Mar.2 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton is a better driver than F1's reigning world champion Kimi Raikkonen, the boss of the British formula one team Williams has suggested.

Sir Frank Williams told reporters at a media lunch in London last week that rivals McLaren will have some consolation this season if Ferrari's F2008 turns out as expected to be a quicker single seater.

Referring to 23-year-old rookie Hamilton, the 2007 championship runner up, Williams is quoted as saying by the Daily Record: "If the Ferrari is the better car this year, McLaren should be saying to themselves 'Thank god he is not in a Ferrari, otherwise there would be no point going racing'."

Williams, 65, is reluctant to declare decisively that Raikkonen, the Finnish driver, is simply not as good as Hamilton.

"I don't know Kimi well. He is a gifted driver, as good as anyone, but Kimi's weakness is that he is not that interested.

"So if a man of equal skill, let's say, turns up in an identical car, with one working harder than the other, it is more likely that that man would have the upper hand," he added.