Pressure? No pressure, says Hamilton

Saturday, 22 November 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Lewis Hamilton played down the pressure of his Formula One title showdown with Nico Rosberg on Thursday by saying he had years of experience in dealing with it. “I come into the race weekend to try to win... so nothing changes there,” said the Mercedes driver, who only need finish second to become champion even if team mate Rosberg triumphs on the day. “And in terms of pressure, I don’t particularly feel any,” added the Briton in response to a German reporter who described him as the favourite and thus the man with everything to lose. “I think I’ve had plenty of experience through my racing career... it might be 20 years of racing, to be prepared for today. There’s no special recipe for it (handling the pressure).” Hamilton leads Rosberg by 17 points and has won 10 races to the German’s five but, with 50 available to the winner thanks to the novelty of double points, he knows a mechanical failure could overturn everything. On the plus side for Hamilton, the 29-year-old has finished in the top two in his last six races with Mercedes chasing a record 16th win of the 19 round season on Sunday. The two collided on track in Belgium, with Rosberg blamed but going on to finish second while Hamilton had to retire, but the Briton said he expected a fair fight on Sunday and was not expecting anything underhand. “We’re not children, we should know what is wrong and what is right,” he said. Rosberg, sitting further along the row in the news conference, indicated that it was up to Hamilton. “Lewis can do something to keep it clean which is drive cleanly himself,” he said. “So it’s not like he can’t do anything.” Both agreed that the title showdown took them back to the days 15 years ago when they were friends and rivals fighting for a championship and race wins in go-karts. “It’s quite similar to back in the karting days,” said Hamilton, who won that boyhood battle. “At that age it was as intense as I had experienced. I wanted to win back then and nothing’s changed.”

Mercedes reject Vettel’s ‘boring’ quip

Reuters: Mercedes hit back at Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel on Friday after the most dominant driver of recent years quipped that the team had made the Formula One season boring with their success. “Is there anybody out there who believes that it was a boring season? Not one single soul,” motorsport head Toto Wolff told the official Formula One website ahead of Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. “It was an incredibly exciting season, despite our record. Our drivers were battling each other to the limit and I am sure that the fans appreciate that.” Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have between them won a record-equalling 15 of the 18 races so far, with a record 11 one-two finishes, but the title outcome is far from decided. Hamilton, the 2008 champion, leads his German team mate by 17 points but with double points and 50 for the winner on Sunday. Vettel wrapped up last year’s title, his fourth in a row, with three races to spare and ended the year with nine successive wins. But this season he has been little more than an onlooker. The German has not won a race and has been overshadowed even within his own team by Australian Daniel Ricciardo. “I think Mercedes made it very boring this year,” the 27-year-old told reporters with some irony on Thursday, while admitting that the season-long duel between the two team mates had been good to watch. “They had great races, battling for the lead, which is obviously the most interesting position in the race for the people to watch,” said Vettel. “Remembering races like Bahrain, I think they put on a great show for the fans and took it to the last race, so I think both of them deserve to win after such a great season.”