Hamilton won’t take five
LEWIS HAMILTON believes his imminent fifth world championship is only the beginning, saying: “I’ve still got plenty more to do.”
The 33-year-old Mercedes star will embark on his second attempt at winning this season’s Formula One title this weekend, with a seventh-place finish at the Mexican Grand Prix tomorrow enough to seal the deal.
Ferrari’s under-fire Sebastian Vettel must win at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez to stand any chance of stopping Hamilton from taking the spoils. And the omens are not good, with the German having never finished on the podium here in three attempts.
Hamilton’s activities away from the track are well known – on Wednesday he was busy promoting his Tommy Hilfiger fashion collection in Mexico City – but he insists his desire to race in Formula One remains greater than ever. He is set to match Juan Manuel Fangio’s collection of five championships, and soon only Michael Schumacher, who won the last of his seven titles aged 35, will sit ahead of Hamilton.
The Briton will be the same age as the German was when his £40million-ayear Mercedes deal expires at the end of 2020.
He started his championship ball rolling in 2008 with McLaren, before waiting six years to claim his second after upping sticks to Mercedes. And MESSAGE SENT: Hamilton wants more his expected fifth championship will be Hamilton’s fourth in five quite remarkable seasons. “It does feel like I have got quite a lot more to do,” he said. “I waited a long time to win my second title, and I could have easily stayed at McLaren. I would be sitting here now with one championship. I probably wouldn’t be sitting here at all, to be honest. “The journey has been interesting, and the decisions I have taken at the different crossroads, but I am very grateful for the route I am on, and I feel incredibly fortunate to be in the position I am in.” Lateseason races have often been incident-packed, with Schumacher involved in notorious collisions at the season-deciding rounds in 1994 and 1997, while Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost crashed in successive years as they battled for the 1989 and 1990 titles.
But Hamilton said: “Everyone is here to do a great job, and I don’t think anyone wants to taint their own history, and their own futures, by doing something similar.”
He cut a calm and collected figure both in Austin last weekend and here, and the weight of history does not appear to be playing on Hamilton’s mind.
“This isn’t my first rodeo,” he said. “I have got the experience and I know what I need to do to get into shape.
“I choose what I want to put my focus towards, and I don’t allow any negativity in, so I am just on a positive wave.
“I am enjoying racing. I am here to race, to win, and to deliver this championship for the team.”