Critical Rosberg trying to get headlines, says former teammate Hamilton
MELBOURNE: Lewis Hamilton has dismissed criticism from former Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg as the product of someone seeking “headlines”.
Rosberg, who beat Hamilton to the 2016 world championship before retiring, told Sky Sports this week that the Briton was “almost unbeatable” when on song but his “weakness” was a “bit of inconsistency”.
Hamilton, whose long-standing relationship with Rosberg grew strained during their four years together at the Silver Arrows, viewed the German’s remarks dimly three days before Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
“I think I’ve proved that that’s not the case last year,” champion Hamilton told reporters at the pre-race news conference yesterday, referring to his nine wins on the way to the 2017 title.
“I think there’s a lot of people who need to get headlines and that’s one way of doing it. The goal this year is to be even more consistent than last year. I think consistency is the main reason I won the world championship last year.”
Hamilton conceded the early running in the 2017 title race to Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel before the German’s challenge fell away in the second half of the season.
The Briton is favourite to win a fifth title and draw level with Juan Manuel Fangio, who is second on the all-time list behind Michael Schumacher’s seven championships.
Although 33 and having admitted to thinking about life after racing during the last campaign, Hamilton felt he had yet to reach the peak of his powers.
“I hope not,” said Hamilton, who made his Formula One debut for McLaren at Albert Park in 2007 and won at the lakeside circuit in 2008 and 2015.
“I’m sure there is a peak for a driver when their fitness level gets harder to reach the fitness level that we do today.
“When your interest starts to decline and your drive starts to decline, I guess that’s when you’re over your peak but I definitely feel I’m not at that (stage).
“I’m definitely in a good range right now and that’s where I need to continue to try to extract the most I can.”
Formula One has pushed back the start of a new television streaming service which it had hoped to launch in Australia this weekend.
A spokesperson said the OTT product would be tested over the season-opening weekend in Melbourne with an aim to start delivery as soon as possible after that.
“We will do an intense stress test this weekend, with people connecting from all over the world to test functionalities,” he said.
The product was announced during testing in Barcelona last month with Formula One saying fans would be able to watch races in a different way, including from their favourite driver’s perspective.
F1 TV will give access to cameras mounted on the cars of the 20 drivers as well as the traditional broadcast feed, with viewers able to split the screens of their mobile device or smart TV.
That would allow viewers to watch the action from two cars as their drivers battled for position.
Formula One, controlled by US-based Liberty Media since January last year, had planned to offer the service initially in some 43 countries with new or renegotiated television deals.
They include most of Latin America, France, Germany, the United States, Turkey, Belgium, Hungary, Poland and Austria.