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Schumacher Impressed by Hamilton's Improvement

With the season's finale knocking at everyone's door, former F1 champion Michael Schumacher expressed his thoughts regarding the title fight this season, as well as Ferrari's performances in the second half of the year. While supporting former teammate and protege Felipe Massa for the world championship, the German admitted that he's impressed with how much Lewis Hamilton has achieved in less than 2 years.

“His performances in such a short time inside Formula 1 are incredible. I am very impressed with what he's achieved so far. Last year he challenged Alonso at McLaren and managed to beat him a few times on track,” admitted Schumacher to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.

Nevertheless, when asked whether the Englishman would make a better F1 champion than Ferrari's Massa, the German argued: “One can't really say who is better or make comparisons between him (Hamilton) and Massa. We should consider the circumstances for each result and often it's harder to judge them from the outside”.

The Brazilian is heading to his home race at Interlagos with a 7-point deficit to McLaren's Lewis Hamilton in the overall classification. Massa has been very strong in Brazil in his two years with the Italian Scuderia, winning the 2006 race and finishing runner-up – after playing lieutenant for Kimi Raikkonen – last year.

Massa argued that racing the season's finale in his back yard is certainly an advantage, despite Hamilton's claims that the higher pressure from home fans will be on the Brazilian's shoulders. “The pressure from the fans only helps. It's always better to have it. I've always liked racing at home. You can absorb everything positive from the fans and that helps you do your best,” said Massa ahead of the Interlagos race.

Hamilton, on the other hand, will race in Brazil with a 2-race-old engine, while also using a 3-race-old gearbox. Nevertheless, the Brit only needs a 5th place to secure the world title – in case Massa should win the race – and admitted that scoring points is more important than going for the win in Brazil. The McLaren driver held the exact same point advantage over Kimi Raikkonen when heading to the last race of the season last year, eventually losing the title by only one point.
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