Hamilton set to join Senna, Schumacher as F1 great

LEWIS Hamilton has no intention of easing up this weekend as he seeks a mere top-five finish in the Mexican Grand Prix to clinch his fourth driver’s world title and a place among the greatest drivers in Formula One history.

The arguments over his status have grown louder as the months have passed this year, but they reached a new crescendo this week following his ninth win of the season at last weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Texas.

His Mercedes team chief, Toto Wolff, declared him to be on course to become “the best driver that has ever existed”, while veteran Brazilian Felipe Massa, who missed out on the 2008 title when Hamilton stole it from him with a passing move at the final corner of the Brazilian Grand Prix, said he already ranked him alongside Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna.

Another title triumph will lift him clear of Jackie Stewart, on three championship wins, as the most successful British driver of all time, drawing him level on four with Alain Prost and his current rival Sebastian Vettel.

Ahead lie only seven-time champion Schumacher and five-time title winner Juan Manuel Fangio.

Hamilton, however, has been keen to avoid the hype and says his mind is on winning this Sunday’s race in front of a passionate and raucous crowd at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

“There are still three races to go,” the 32-year-old Briton said.

“And in my mind, I still have three races to win. There are still a lot of points available -- until you actually win the championship, you can’t get ahead of yourself.”

His caution is understandable as he and Mercedes know that despite the long straights and slow corners, the thin air at an altitude of 2 250m will help deliver a contest that may play to the strengths of rivals Ferrari.

Mercedes will run with a high down-force set-up, as might be used in Monaco or Budapest, where they struggled this year, and this is the cause of their concerns.

Vettel, despite trailing Hamilton by 66 points and needing a huge shift in form and fortunes, will not abandon his hopes of stopping the Englishman’s immediate triumph.

But, as Massa put it, if anyone can win more or less anywhere in any conditions, it is Hamilton.

“He is definitely one of the best drivers in the history of Formula One,” the Brazilian said.

“You cannot really take him away in a different level compared to Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. He’s there.” Wolff was even more fulsome. “Lewis is about to break all records, and it is just a matter of time until people will say he is on track to being the best driver that has ever existed,” he said. – AFP