Hamilton "takes pride" in not making errors
- Published on 18 Sep 2018 12:28
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Lewis Hamilton admits that he takes pride in not making on-track mistakes like title rival Sebastian Vettel. Vettel has made a number of costly errors this season, including crashing out of the lead of the race in Germany and spinning around after making contact with Hamilton in Italy.
The Ferrari driver hit the wall during free practice on Friday in Singapore, damaging his car and ending his session early. Hamilton now boasts a 40 point lead in the championship, and is on course to pick up his fifth world title.
"I don't look at it and think 'we've lucked in'," Hamilton said. "When Vettel hit the wall the other day, damaged the car and lost running on the track, that's not us lucking in. I take a lot of pride in not putting myself in those positions.
"I know my team is relying on me just as his team is relying on him. There's a lot of pressure on us drivers. It's only small percentages that you get wrong and they have bigger ramifications.
"As a team we honestly don't waste any time wondering what they're doing, or if they're feeling pressure, or if they're feeling happy or unhappy. There's nothing we can do about them, all we can do is be the best we can over a weekend."
Should Hamilton beat Vettel to victory in Russia, the Briton could win the championship without winning a race for the rest of the season. But the Mercedes driver isn't changing his approach as he aims to take victory at every remaining race.
"There is just no need for me to look at the next few races and think 'OK, I need that there, and that there'. In my mind I need to win every race, simple as that," he admitted.
"I focus on that and arrive wanting to win. There will be weekends when we know that maybe we'll be comfortably stronger, and there will be weekends like this where we expect to be behind but we still have that belief that we can win.
"I want to win every race, that's the goal. I'm just not looking at the points. It's nice having 40 points, but it's not the end until it's mathematically impossible [to lose]."
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Replies (4)
Login to replyF1_IS_Dead
Posts: 123
This guy is sitting in the fastest and easiest to drive car. When he is supposed to win, they just turn the engine up... If he starts from the back, he doesn't even have to overtake. The other "drivers" let him pass. The pressure must be big.
kratos
Posts: 4
This season has shown that Hamilton is the best driver.
Vettel with the faster and more reliable car for much of the season had his chance, but couldn't sustain facing the pressure. It's the opposite for Hamilton, who generally tends to perform better when the stakes are higher and pressure is maximum. After Australia and Bahrain victories, Ferrari looked supreme but their operational and driver errors just kept piling up.
With title 5 looming, a lot of Schumacher's records are going to be under threat.
juju_hound
Posts: 180
It's a mind game and Hamilton took good lessions over mind games from Rosberg who was a master of his own.
Another mind game - look at press conference after Singapore. Lewis rising his hands acting like a teenager after succesful prom night ("I'm on hype, do you have question for me") while other side Vettel with this body language showing his infirmity.
Rindtchamp
Posts: 304
Lets hope this comes back and bites him hard like his comments in the past. ie: "I will never be passed on the inside again" ..gets passed on the inside at the next race.
a nice DNF would put a little live into the title race and bring him down a peg or two.