'Ayrton Senna era was the best'

LEWIS Hamilton believes Formula One has lost something because of what technology and officials allow star drivers like Sebastian Vettel to get away with.

Mercedes star Hamilton is full of admiration for Ayrton Senna, who drove at a time in the late 1980s when the sport was less technical and more dangerous.

Hamilton said this week: "If you watch Sebastian Vettel now he always runs over the Astroturf and over the kerb a little more than he should, going beyond the white line, which you're not allowed to do but they let you get away with it.

"In Senna's day, if he went one foot over that kerb, it would be grass and he would spin, and be penalised. He would be on the limit, rather than over the limit - and I respect that style of driving more.

"Now you can go beyond and get back because modern tracks have run-off areas. They used to be gravel. Hit that, and your car was damaged or stuck. Now you can push beyond, go wide and come back on.

"When you do and get away with it, you think, 'Great', but the reason I love street circuits like Monaco is there is no room for error and if you make a mistake, you pay. I don't want people to pay by being hurt, but losing time, or having the car stop - that's what racing is about.

"That's why you've got to have so much admiration for the guys who did it back then."

Hamilton believes driving alongside Senna would have brought out the best in him.

"I like that it's safer now but the cars then were raw - they had a gear stick," he said.

"You watch Senna at Monaco and he's one-handed most of the time, over-steering. That's really cool. So cool. That would have brought a lot more out of me, the time before the driver aids came in. Now it's so technical, sitting around talking about hydraulic dip. I have tons of buttons - 26 on a Mercedes steering wheel - and to understand and utilise them all is a science in itself."

Meanwhile, despite his team's wretched start to the Formula One season Jenson Button insists morale is still high in the McLaren camp - even if expectations are not - ahead of today's Spanish GP.

If McLaren continue to trail by a distance Red Bull, Ferrari, Lotus and Mercedes come the end of the race, that could affect morale.

Button, 33, does not believe that will be the case as he said: "We want to win races - this team has won many races in its history - and that hasn't changed now.

"We're still a team that fights for victories, and we're going to do everything we can to do that."

With just 13 points to his name, Button is already 64 behind reigning three-time champion Sebastian Vettel, and with hopes already rapidly fading of a title challenge.

As for Button's own motivation, he added: "You have ups and downs.

"This team has been very strong over the past few years, and although we haven't clinched the title, we've won a lot of Grands Prix.

"It's not always going to be good, but we're working as hard as we can to make it great and that's the aim for the future. We're obviously hoping for an improvement but it's so competitive in F1 at the moment and the smallest change can make a big difference," said Button.