Lewis Hamilton dismissed talk of him clinching a fourth world championship this weekend as “silly”.
Hamilton can win the title on Sunday if he finished in the top two places, depending on what results Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas achieve.
However Hamilton doubts his season-long rival Vettel is likely to finish low enough to allow him to seal the title.
“He’s been a strong fighter all year,” said Hamilton. “Obviously he’s had a few issues technically but I think still the car is at good as it’s always been.”
“For sure they’ll have some sort of upgrade coming this weekend. They’ve definitely had a couple of hiccups but I anticipate they’ll be very strong this weekend and for the last four races.”
“That’s why nothing changes for me. I’ve still got to continue to put the pressure on. There’s no reason to back out, just keep pushing forwards.”
“Honestly I think the talk of the championship win this weekend is silly really,” he added. “You can’t expect them to have a difficult weekend again. They’re going to be quick.”
“We’ve got an opportunity to win the championship, as long as it’s done in the next four races that’s my focus. I honestly couldn’t care whether it was here or the last race. As long as it’s done.”
Hamilton drove F1 car on oval
Hamilton hinted at having “a lot of positive things happening in my life” and “a lot of interesting things that are forecast over these next 18 months” but wouldn’t be drawn over what they were.
Pocono Raceway
The three-turn Pocono Raceway superspeedway in Pennsylvania hosts both IndyCar and NASCAR races.
“I can’t tell you what it is, all top secret stuff,” he said. “It’s just positive things.”
“When you’re a racing driver often you’re put in a box and there’s talk of you not doing much but being a racing driver. There’s a lot more to me than being a racing driver and I have a lot of great things that are happening.”
“So after a lot of work, a lot of trial and error, a lot of push-back over the years, to see positive things starting to happen, things starting to move in a direction that I hoped they would eventually move, which you’ll see come to fruition in the next 12 to 18 months, that’s allowing me to take the pressure off and enjoy what I’m doing here more than ever before.”
On the podium at Suzuka two weeks ago Hamilton tried on the ring Takuma Sato received for winning this year’s Indianapolis 500. Hamilton again said he was not interested in tackling the race but confirmed he had recently driven an F1 car on an oval. He posted photographs of an event at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania on social media earlier this week.
“I love the idea of drivers being able to do more than one series,” he said. “Just the other day I happened to get to drive a Formula One car on an oval which was interesting. I have a huge amount of respect for those drivers, it’s quite scary when you approach those banks at the speed that they do.”
Hamilton credited his strong performance since the summer break to arriving at races “with an abundance of positivity”.
“Helps keep your mind in the right place,” he said. “Obviously I have a team, Toto [Wolff] and Mercedes, that have been very supportive of the things I do and the way that I move which allows me to be in that position. It’s much appreciated.”
C
19th October 2017, 19:28
That’s sensible, the constructor title might be over this weekend but Driver title will go on to Mexico where it might be over at earliest unless there is another brainfart from the driver of Limping horses this weekend handing driver title on silver platter.
Rahnarl Smenves (@rahnarlsmenves)
20th October 2017, 10:41
Haha, he won the title in Singapore…
David BR (@david-br)
20th October 2017, 12:30
Well, it’s a real pick and mix. If he does win a 4th title, you can identify various moments. Psychologically Hamilton may have won it in Baku: after Vettel’s show of disrespect, he grouped after the Austria gear box penalty and came back strong at Silverstone, since when he’s been constant. In terms of absolute last chances, Vettel’s DNF in Japan probably left his prospects terminal.
Shimks (@shimks)
20th October 2017, 11:39
I guess he’s got an album coming out!
Johnny
20th October 2017, 13:52
I guess you’re seriously butt hurt
Tom
20th October 2017, 11:45
@rahnarlsmenves I don’t think you understand how the Championship works. Basically, drivers are awarded points depending on which position they finish the race in. The driver with the most points at the end of the season is the Champion for that year. Until the final race or it’s mathmatically impossible for another driver to gain more points than the current leader the Championship is still open. As a driver gets 25 points for a win there’s still 100 points available and Hamilton only leads by 59 points so Im unsure why you think Hamilton won it in Singapore. He did win the race..
Paolo (@paulsteward40)
20th October 2017, 13:08
@Tom I am so glad you pointed that out as we would never have realised.
Tom
20th October 2017, 14:30
Glad I could be of help @paulsteward40 I see a lot of comments saying how Hamilton has won the Championship and just thought it was worth explaining to those fans who’ve clearly misunderstood how the Championship works.
Robbie (@robbie)
20th October 2017, 13:07
I would say more accurately talk of LH winning the title this weekend might be mildly premature, but certainly not silly. He may be trying to pump up the Ferrari to make his challenge sound greater, and so of course makes no mention that they themselves will be strong, but the reality is there’s a chance he could do it this weekend as the math…the odds…are that highly in his favour that if it’s not this race it might be the next. So…silly? No not at all. If he doesn’t win it this weekend he may still completely ensure it’ll happen next race. It’s not just that SV has had ‘a few technical issues.’ It’s that he has had them at a time when there are too few races left to make up for it. The timing of the Ferrari unreliability couldn’t have made life for LH easier.
DaveW (@dmw)
20th October 2017, 16:16
He’s obviously just trying to shift any pressure here to Vettel and off himself. It’s a wise approach. Especially as Ferrari are likely to be as quick or quicker.