‘I won’t be travel sick,’ insists Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has said that he has been energised by racking up the air miles while his title rivals were preparing for the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Mercedes driver stretched his lead over Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel to 30 points with his victory in Italy two weeks ago.

Hamilton then jetted off on a frantic time zone-hopping schedule that took him to fashion shows for his new clothing range in Shanghai and New York before landing in Singapore.

The English four-time world champion denied his hectic off-track life was an unwelcome distraction, instead claiming it actually helped him win races.

“I get a lot of energy from these different things that I do,” Hamilton said at Singapore’s Marina Bay Street Circuit. “I find it stimulating and you’ll see that my results have shown that for the past several years.

“I’ve travelled a lot more than I have all year long in these two weeks. [But] there’s not a single moment that I’m not thinking about racing, not thinking about the championship, how I want to arrive.”

By contrast, title rival Vettel said he had enjoyed “a quiet couple of weeks” since Monza, spent entirely on preparing for what he called “the toughest race of the season”.

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, runner-up in Singapore in each of the past three races, said all he had done since Italy was hit the gym in “seven layers of clothes” to get acclimatised for the steamy, draining race which normally lasts close to the maximum two hours.

On paper, Singapore’s unique city centre track with its 23 turns, more than any other track, should favour Ferrari and Red Bull.