Lewis Hamilton says he won’t hold back at the start of the Mexican Grand Prix because of the championship situation.
The Mercedes driver needs only a seventh place finish to secure his fifth title win in this afternoon’s race. But he said backing off to play it safe could only get him in trouble.
“Everyone’s going to be barrelling into turn one to gain, so it’s a very, very fine line. If you go easy, you can get hit. If you go too aggressive, you can hit or still get hit.“You’ve got to race it like normal and go in for the win. That’s what I’m going to be doing. I mean, that’s what we’re here to do, is to race.”
It’s the second year in a row Hamilton could secure the title at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Last year he clinched the title despite finishing ninth after a first-lap tangle with championship rival Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton lines up third on the grid today with the two Red Bulls ahead of him and Vettel alongside. “If I get a good tow from [them] and there’s an opportunity to overtake I’m going to take it,” he said.
“If there’s not, then I’m going to try and hold position. I’ve been racing a long, long time so it’s very rare that I make rash decisions and silly decisions when it comes to those scenarios.
“But I’ve not really given it any thought, to be honest. I’m hoping to get a good start and we’re racing together.”
The strength of the Red Bulls this weekend could play in Hamilton’s favour in the championship, he added.
“[They] are going to be quick tomorrow so gaining position would be hopeful. But also I don’t mind those guys being where they are because that takes points away from both me and Sebastian so that’s OK.”
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Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th October 2018, 13:36
If I were him (obv. I’m not, which is why my hands are on a keyboard not a steering wheel), I’d let Vettel past and use Bottas as a rear-gunner to hold off Kimi on lap 1. That keeps both the drivers in charge of clattering into Hamilton ahead instead of behind. Once the gaps open up a bit in the first 5 laps or so, run a regular race and see how things shape up.
I mean, he can even come in ahead of best of the rest to seal the deal, and there’s no need to annoy the team’s logistics guy by having him ship unopened boxes of t-shirts and champagne further south (@nullapax , FYI, Brazil is south of Mexico ;-)).
The remaining races, he can take the gloves off and have a bit more aggressive fun, if he wishes.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th October 2018, 13:38
Typo: both the drivers in danger of clattering into Hamilton
A Freddo for an edit button, Keith!
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
28th October 2018, 14:04
A guy has one too many beers then makes one simple mistake …. and he is never allowed to forget it …. (sighs) ;P
ColdFly (@)
28th October 2018, 15:16
don’t worry @nullapax, you’re both wrong.
It’s more East than South (127.72 degrees to be precise).
Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th October 2018, 15:18
@nullapax – okie, next time you make a mistake, I’ll crack open a cold beer, that’ll help me forget!
In fact, that reminds me of the popular buzzword bingo game – I think we should play that when reading/viewing interviews – have a swig whenever…
a) Romoans
b) a Liberty employee/team principal says “the show”
c) Alonso points out what’s wrong with F1
d) Max professes his undying love for Honda
e) Bottas does a #2 (not that! I mean he lets Hamilton through, or sacrifices his race for him)
f) Vettel clatters into someone, or spins off
g) Hamilton says/tweets #blessed or similar
h) Ricciardo says something vulgar that comes across endearing (“Holy Testi… Tuesday”)
i) Kimi speaks a sentence longer than 5 words
j) Someone moans about penalty points
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
28th October 2018, 17:12
I don’t think I have enough alcohol in the house to get past the first pit stops for that lot! :)
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
28th October 2018, 14:22
@phylyp
I still like that there is no edit button here. I think that it will make people that post inappropriate stuff think more next time. Once it is out there, you can’t change it and at least who is in charge can remove it. I also think that there will be too much editing of comments if we can do that. I think forums are where we should be able to edit. Comments on an article shouldn’t matter as much. Or if they do, we can just read over them before posting. Or just correct yourself below.
hyoko
28th October 2018, 14:29
A reasonable compromise would be a limited time for editing, say 2 minutes. Or at least a preview of the comment before posting.
David BR (@david-br)
28th October 2018, 14:47
+1 preview buttons work well for me (when I actually bother using them)
Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th October 2018, 15:09
@thegianthogweed – that’s a good argument you make, Ben.
I’m with hyoko on this, a brief editing window (2-5 mins) makes sense, because a good number of times we realize the error within seconds of posting a comment. That should help us who make the occasional boo-boo, while still ensuring inappropriate/abusive comments are near permanent. As much as it makes sense to proofread before posting, as a sporting site, we don’t treat it with the same writing rigour as we’d do for a professional note (not to mention that we check this while travelling, etc.).
It would be good to hear from Keith if this decision is driven by technical complexity (i.e. adding in the edit feature to the comment system, or migrating to a comment system like Disqus that supports more features), or an editorial decision for reasons like the ones Ben has alluded to.
ColdFly (@)
28th October 2018, 16:24
I’m also not a big supporter of edit buttons in comment sections either, @thegianthogweed.
I’ve seen on other sites that these are often being abused by people fully changing their comments afterwards (sometimes only when facts overtook their opinion, but sometimes even to totally discredit the replies to their comments).
I suggest a ‘delete’ button though (Keith has one).
If you find a typo you can easily coderepaedpo* your comment. Or when you made a total fool out of yourself after a boozy night out you can remove the links to your personal inappropriate pictures the next morning ;)
* copy/delete/reply/paste/edit/post
ColdFly (@)
28th October 2018, 16:26
PS – and of course ‘delete’ only for registered members.
Another reason to ‘identify’ yourself, rather than using a four letter abreviation for anonymous (yes you anon).
Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th October 2018, 17:46
@coldfly – how would delete work in case replies were made to a comment that is delete? Would those replies remain, or do they also disappear? It just feels that a delete button feels like a more sweeping change.
I believe/know that the edit button would not be abused by many… but I agree that there are also some bad apples who might seem inclined to do so, so yes, that’s a risk.
+1 to anon outing himself/herself via a registered pseudonym.
ColdFly (@)
28th October 2018, 22:47
easy, those replies will be randomly allocated to other comments ;)
@phylyp
PS I’ve got an f) and a g) in the binge. I assume I can collect my prize in Mexico (a few boxes with Mercedes Constructor Champion T-shirts)
LB (@burden93)
28th October 2018, 15:56
Think the logistics man at Mercedes is hoping for a 1-2! Then he can can do the constructors and drivers championship t-shirts in one go!
Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th October 2018, 17:30
@burden93 – Quite true, if that happens, I’m sure he/she’d celebrate with champagne for reasons other than the win! :-D
Hugh (@hugh11)
28th October 2018, 14:04
Well he has the gap to go all in, and even if he does retire or whatever, Vettel’s going to spin about 17 times anyway.
GongTong (@gongtong)
28th October 2018, 18:41
I agree. To the point where I think this article should have been titled “Hamilton won’t play safe at the start BECAUSE OF title situation”.
GongTong (@gongtong)
28th October 2018, 18:43
This was actually meant as a reply to @rocketpanda below.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
28th October 2018, 14:36
Even if he goes for it and crashes out he still needs Vettel to win which looks fairly unlikely, and still can comfortably take it the next race even if Vettel did.
So yeah why wouldn’t he just go for it and be aggressive, the chances of losing this title are ridiculously small.
David BR (@david-br)
28th October 2018, 14:52
Last year at Mexico he played cautious and still got clipped ‘accidentally’ as steered round the Vettel-Verstappen duel. I get the impression Hamilton’s comment is intended to serve warning to the former that he won’t be getting out of his way this time.
LB (@burden93)
28th October 2018, 15:23
The odds of Seb winning the race is so slim, Lewis will be champion regardless. The moment you don’t give it 100% and try to hang back that’s when the accidents happen.
To be honest any of the 4 at the front could have an incident, for some part it’s going to be a roll of dice for who wins and who loses