LEW: I WON’T SINK TO VETTEL’S LEVEL
Hamilton insists he would never mock his rival on his home patch ..as the German did with Union Jack taunt after his victory at Silverstone
LEWIS HAMILTON wants payback for a German win at Silverstone by leaving Sebastian Vettel in his slipstream at Hockenheim tomorrow.
The defending champion vowed to expose Vettel’s “weakness” by beating him on his own patch.
But Hamilton revealed he intends to keep a British stiff upper lip instead of sinking to the German’s taunting tactics from two weeks ago.
Vettel went eight points clear in the title race and celebrated his victory by roaring in Italian over the Ferrari radio: “We are leaving with the British flag – we have won here at their home.”
The Mercedes F1 operation is based only a stone’s throw from Silverstone, while Hamilton’s comeback drive from last to second – after he was punted off at the first corner by Vettel’s Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen – was cheered on by 140,000 British fans.
He said: “I heard something was said, but I see that as an act of weakness. It doesn’t affect me whatsoever. Good for him.
“We will keep our heads down, keep quiet, and focus on doing a better job across the board. That is our approach right now.
“I hope that, when we do a good job this weekend, we won’t respond by saying, ‘Oh, we did it at his home ground’. That is not necessary.”
In the moments after his defeat at Silverstone, Hamilton accused Ferrari
‘We’re leaving with the British flag to hang at Maranello... we have won here at their home’
of dirty play. His wild theory was that they had hatched a plan to wipe him out of contention by ordering Raikkonen to bang into him on purpose.
A day later, Hamilton apologised to Raikkonen in a series of Instagram posts.
“Obviously, it was silly to say,” Vettel said as he reflected on Hamilton’s accusation. “We are racing and we have all been there. It is never great if you get hit, when you have done nothing wrong. It’s two weeks ago. We move on.”
Hamilton and Mercedes moved on by ending the Brit’s long-running contract saga to ensure his future on the grid for at least another two seasons.
He will be rewarded with an eye-watering £80million, and will once again be partnered by Valtteri Bottas.
“I am sure for the team there were questions and discussions at lunch,” Hamilton added. “‘Is he staying? Is he not staying?’ But now we can embark on a strong future together.”
He finished second in both practice sessions yesterday, with Daniel Ricciardo, and latterly Max Verstappen, leading the way for Red Bull.