Title Run-in Will Suit Me and We're Going to Attack, Says Hamilton
After a disappointing race at Monza, Lewis Hamilton knows that he'll have to go on the offensive in the final four races
Lewis Hamilton yesterday joined the chorus of praise for Sebastian Vettel's victory in Sunday's Italian grand prix at Monza. "He's been getting stronger all year," he said of the young German. "Having won, it shows how good he is." The Briton's main focus until the end of the season, however, is to fend off the title challenge of Ferrari's Felipe Massa in Singapore, Japan, China and Brazil.
Hamilton finished seventh in Italy, just over a second behind Massa, having started 15th on the grid in his McLaren because of a tyre-choice error during Saturday's rain-soaked qualifying session.
Last year he had a 17-point lead in the world championship with two races to go but Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen won in China and Brazil to take the title by one point. This year, with four races to go, Hamilton's lead has been narrowed to one point over Massa and he knows he must keep his nerve.
"Kimi is world champion, so it is his championship to lose," Hamilton said yesterday, although the Finn is almost out of the running after a third successive race in which he failed to score a point left him trailing Hamilton by 21.
"Singapore is going to be a great experience. I've never been to the city before, and I love the fact we're going back to a street circuit. Fantastic. Fuji [Japan], you know what I'm like there. I drove quickly in both the dry and wet. Shanghai, same again. I was very quick there last year and I know the car I have will be fantastic there this year. And then Brazil, we'll be quick there again. But I would say none of them will be particularly key. In each race we're going to be attacking."
The former world champion Niki Lauda said yesterday: "It really is quite extraordinary how tight the championship battle is at this late stage of the season and I couldn't choose between Massa and Hamilton at this point."
Lauda lost the 1976 world championship in his Ferrari, by a single point, to McLaren's James Hunt. "I know the situation I faced that year was different in the sense that I was coming back from the grave, if you like, after I was badly burned at the Nürburgring," he said. "But I had a big points lead and James really built up his momentum over the last few races, so the pressure was just as intense as these guys are going to experience.
"The truth is that both Felipe and Lewis are capable of winning this year's championship, but it will probably come down to which keeps the coolest and holds his nerve over the final few races. I think Lewis showed just how quick the McLaren can be as he came through the field on Sunday, but I guess his tyres were pretty well knocked out by the time he pulled on to Massa's tail and I suppose that's why he couldn't get past. But it's going to go all the way down to the wire in Brazil, in my opinion."
While preparing for Singapore on Sunday week, Hamilton will give evidence to the FIA court of appeal in Paris next Monday. There he will have to relive the episode in the Belgian grand prix when he entered the braking zone for the chicane before the pits running wheel-to-wheel with Raikkonen, straight-lined the corner to avoid a collision, permitted the Ferrari driver to repass and then took the lead going into the La Source hairpin.
The stewards judged that Hamilton gained an unfair advantage and dropped him from first to third. The Briton wants his win restored, together with the four points he lost. That alone could decide the world championship.
Last four last year
Belgium
Lewis Hamilton run off track by Fernando Alonso; Kimi Raikkonen leads from start to finish
Championship standingsHamilton 97pts,
Alonso 95, Raikkonen 84
Japan
Hamilton wins in poor conditions; Alonso crashes; Raikkonen third
Championship standings Hamilton 107,
Alonso 95, Raikkonen 90
China
Hamilton skids out on lap 31; Raikkonen wins, Alonso is second
Championship standings Hamilton 107,
Alonso 103, Raikkonen 100
Brazil
Errors and mechanical problems dog Hamilton's 7th place. An appeal fails and Raikkonen is the champion
Championship standingsRaikkonen 110, Hamilton 109, Alonso 109
Hamilton finished seventh in Italy, just over a second behind Massa, having started 15th on the grid in his McLaren because of a tyre-choice error during Saturday's rain-soaked qualifying session.
Last year he had a 17-point lead in the world championship with two races to go but Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen won in China and Brazil to take the title by one point. This year, with four races to go, Hamilton's lead has been narrowed to one point over Massa and he knows he must keep his nerve.
"Kimi is world champion, so it is his championship to lose," Hamilton said yesterday, although the Finn is almost out of the running after a third successive race in which he failed to score a point left him trailing Hamilton by 21.
"Singapore is going to be a great experience. I've never been to the city before, and I love the fact we're going back to a street circuit. Fantastic. Fuji [Japan], you know what I'm like there. I drove quickly in both the dry and wet. Shanghai, same again. I was very quick there last year and I know the car I have will be fantastic there this year. And then Brazil, we'll be quick there again. But I would say none of them will be particularly key. In each race we're going to be attacking."
The former world champion Niki Lauda said yesterday: "It really is quite extraordinary how tight the championship battle is at this late stage of the season and I couldn't choose between Massa and Hamilton at this point."
Lauda lost the 1976 world championship in his Ferrari, by a single point, to McLaren's James Hunt. "I know the situation I faced that year was different in the sense that I was coming back from the grave, if you like, after I was badly burned at the Nürburgring," he said. "But I had a big points lead and James really built up his momentum over the last few races, so the pressure was just as intense as these guys are going to experience.
"The truth is that both Felipe and Lewis are capable of winning this year's championship, but it will probably come down to which keeps the coolest and holds his nerve over the final few races. I think Lewis showed just how quick the McLaren can be as he came through the field on Sunday, but I guess his tyres were pretty well knocked out by the time he pulled on to Massa's tail and I suppose that's why he couldn't get past. But it's going to go all the way down to the wire in Brazil, in my opinion."
While preparing for Singapore on Sunday week, Hamilton will give evidence to the FIA court of appeal in Paris next Monday. There he will have to relive the episode in the Belgian grand prix when he entered the braking zone for the chicane before the pits running wheel-to-wheel with Raikkonen, straight-lined the corner to avoid a collision, permitted the Ferrari driver to repass and then took the lead going into the La Source hairpin.
The stewards judged that Hamilton gained an unfair advantage and dropped him from first to third. The Briton wants his win restored, together with the four points he lost. That alone could decide the world championship.
Last four last year
Belgium
Lewis Hamilton run off track by Fernando Alonso; Kimi Raikkonen leads from start to finish
Championship standingsHamilton 97pts,
Alonso 95, Raikkonen 84
Japan
Hamilton wins in poor conditions; Alonso crashes; Raikkonen third
Championship standings Hamilton 107,
Alonso 95, Raikkonen 90
China
Hamilton skids out on lap 31; Raikkonen wins, Alonso is second
Championship standings Hamilton 107,
Alonso 103, Raikkonen 100
Brazil
Errors and mechanical problems dog Hamilton's 7th place. An appeal fails and Raikkonen is the champion
Championship standingsRaikkonen 110, Hamilton 109, Alonso 109
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