Mercedes and Ferrari unveil new cars
Mercedes launch new car, team boss Wolff says he would remove halo with ‘chainsaw’
>> SILVERSTONE: Lewis Hamilton expects his Formula One rivalry with Sebastian Vettel to become even more intense this season and says he is prepared for anything the Ferrari driver throws at him.
The battle between the two fourtimes world champions promises to be the storyline of the season starting in Australia on March 25.
Hamilton came out on top last year, a season that started out in mutual respect before tipping into ‘road rage’ and recrimination when they collided and banged wheels in Azerbaijan.
“You would have to expect that it could be worse,” Hamilton told reporters when asked, at the launch of his Mercedes team’s new F1 W09 car at Silverstone on Thursday, about the tension between the two.
“Always expect the worst and hopefully it will be better.”
The Briton said the campaign was likely to be closer than ever but he would also be even better.
“Hopefully if I am performing at my best, then there will be issues — because they [Ferrari] will be upset about it,” he added.
Asked about potential ‘mind games’, Hamilton smiled.
“Honestly, I don’t play mind games,” he said. “I just drive faster.”
The Briton spoke of his hunger, even if he still has some weight to lose before the first race, and commitment as well as the joys of his longest break in a decade.
Since November, the 33-year-old has been surfing in California and snowboarding in Japan as well as hanging out with friends and family on both sides of the Atlantic.
He enthused about the time spent chasing waves with 11-times world surf league champion Kelly Slater, an experience that was also painful.
“I go for the biggest waves and I get barrelled over,” he grinned.
Hamilton has also kept a lower profile on social media, wiping his Twitter and Instagram accounts in late December after attracting criticism for comments about his young nephew wearing a pink dress.
Meanwhile, Formula One champions Mercedes launched their 2018 car on Thursday with team boss Toto Wolff hoping it proves less temperamental than the last one and admitting he would like to attack it with a chainsaw.
The Austrian is no fan of the mandatory new ‘halo’ head protection device.
“I’m not impressed with the whole [halo] thing,” Wolff told reporters at a chilly Silverstone circuit after Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas had given the silver W09 its track debut.
“And if you give me a chainsaw, I would take it off.”