Austin: An impeccably behaved Lewis Hamilton said he would “take it like a man” if the world championship favourite and his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg won the title this year.
Without conceding defeat, the world champion sounded philosophical about the rest of the season — and unlike the US presidential candidate Donald Trump, he will accept the result. When asked how he felt about the prospect of Rosberg winning the title, Hamilton said: “I will try and take it like a man. You can’t win them all. Look at all the world champions in the past that have won championships and lost championships.” Rosberg leads the race by 33 points with only four races remaining, starting with the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas here on Sunday.
Hamilton said: “It is part of the game. I am in the position right now where there is still a lot of points available so I will give it everything I’ve got. “I still have the belief that anything is possible. Then I will move on. Once it has been decided, and it has happened, all I can do is shape the future which is the next year. So, I will move on and go into the next season and hopefully come back stronger.”
Hamilton was on his best behaviour and produced no repeat of the Snapchat mischief in the corresponding FIA press conference before the race in Japan two weeks ago. Then, he upset a number of journalists by using the image messaging service to place bunny ears on his fellow driver Carlos Sainz and other Formula One figures, almost crying with laughter as he did so. And, when criticised in the media, he walked out on another press conference two days later without answering questions. Mercedes spoke with Hamilton before Thursday’s session in Austin and he appeared to have taken their words seriously, even at one stage saying “bless you” when a journalist sneezed. Rosberg opened up a 43-point lead at the start of the season. Hamilton clawed that back and, with six victories in seven rounds, moved 19 points ahead himself. But the Englishman has not won since July as he has endured more engine failures and poor starts. Hamilton has always been positive about his chances of retaining his world title, and remains so, but there was also something close to resignation in his voice — even if the British driver wins the remaining races Rosberg can secure the F1 crown with three second places and a third. “I don’t look back,” Hamilton said. “There is no point looking back. There are four races but I have still got some time here in my career for better days. I am obviously aware that you can’t always win races and it is a long old season. Nobody is perfect, but all I can do is work as hard as I can with the team. We have got a great car and a great team, so there is no reason why we can’t have more positive weekends moving forward.”
Hamilton has always been proud of his relationship with his fans. And someone relayed a question to him from one of his supporters, who called himself Big Orange Paw. Did he plan on taking a sabbatical, or retiring? “Thank you for the question, Big Orange Paw,” he replied. “I don’t plan on taking a sabbatical. If I ever stop, I will stop.” Regarding his recent foot injury, Hamilton said: “I am 100 per cent. I am feeling great. I have had an injury I have been carrying all year long which is induced by running. I woke up in the morning and I was in quite a lot of pain. The most important thing was being fresh for here and this is the first week it has feltgood.” Meanwhile, the four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel has clearly not given up on Hamilton winning a fourth title this year. When asked if he thought the British driver had a realistic chance of beating Rosberg, he replied: “Of course. It’s realistic because he’s quick enough. It’s realistic because there are a lot of points to get. “It would be quite bad if you quit now. If I could swap I would immediately, and go for it. So I’m sure he goes for it. There are four races to go, so there are a lot of things that can happen. So it’s only over when it’s over.”
