Lewis fears title cruise will hit the skids again
LEWIS HAMILTON is refusing to take F1 world title glory for granted because he’s still scarred by his debut-season disaster.
The British driver heads to Austin, Texas – where he is unbeaten since 2013 – knowing another victory, and failure by Seb Vettel to finish in the top two, will seal glory on Sunday week.
That would leave the final three rounds in Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi as a victory parade.
But after securing his sixth win in seven races in Japan to move 67 points clear of Ferrari’s Vettel with just 100 to play for, the Mercedes ace isn’t getting carried away.
And all the warning he needs is the memory of entering the final two rounds in 2007 with an almost unassailable lead over Kimi Raikkonen only to fall a point short of glory.
Hamilton said: “It is very easy for me not to do that because I am very strict on not being complacent.
“There are 100 points available and I know we have to keep doing the job until the last chequered flag. That is the goal.
“From past experiences so much can happen. So I’ll be at the factory this week and the focus will be on extracting as much as we can from this car because we can always improve.
“The championship is a marathon and not a sprint.
“I feel very proud of our performance. We have continued to deliver.”