World Championship leader determined to seek victory in final race but advised by his father to settle for second place!
Tuesday 25 November 2014 17:42, UK
Lewis Hamilton is intent on enjoying a few home comforts over the next seven days before attempting to score a decisive home run in next week’s Abu Dhabi showdown.
Heading into the final race of the 2014 season, Hamilton leads Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg by 17 points. Even if Rosberg were to win the race, second place would be sufficient for Hamilton to claim his second F1 Drivers' World Championship. In theory, with the peerless Mercedes W05 a class apart, the task ought to be straightforward. But as Hamilton’s own career history acutely testifies, nothing can be taken for granted in season finales, and, moreover, driving for second place is an approach which will sit uneasily with an out-and-out racer such as Hamilton.
“I’m going to go into the last race to try to win,” Hamilton vowed to Sky Sports News HQ.
It’s a personality-driven conundrum which was neatly summarised by his father, Anthony, in the Interlagos paddock on Sunday when he told Sky F1: "Lewis is a racing driver, so he wants to win every race, but you don’t have to win every race. I always tell him ‘just bring the car home' and if you always bring home the car then you’ll always be one or two."
Hamilton senior will have ample opportunity to drum home that message with his son shunning his Monaco apartment in preference for the familiarity of the family base in Stevenage as he prepares for the November 23 showdown.
“Lewis is home for most of the week,” Anthony confirmed. “We’re just going to keep calm and do some family stuff together. We’ll be trying to keep Lewis in a good frame of mind for the next race.”
Whether Hamilton can curb his natural instinct to attack on the track in Abu Dhabi in favour of a more pragmatic approach will be one of the fascinations of the season’s final weekend.
Expanding on how he’ll approach what is bound to be a nailbiting weekend, Hamilton told reporters: “There is zero comfort going into the last race. In the last race, you never know what is going to happen, so I’m going into it to win.”
Next Sunday’s showdown, provisionally billed as the Duel in the Desert, will be the fourth title decider in which Hamilton has been a leading protagonist. A rank outside in the four-way showdown at Abu Dhabi in 2010, Hamilton claimed the title on the final corner at Interlagos in 2008, 12 months after McLaren's implosion gifted the World Championship to Kimi Raikkonen.
"I know l am more prepared now than I have ever been. I am stronger now than l was then, both mentally and physically. It’s different now and l hope that experience counts for something," Hamilton said.
The problem for Hamilton is that a victory for Rosberg will count double in Abu Dhabi, a prospect which could result in the German being crowned champion despite registering just six wins to Hamilton’s ten. Such an outcome would undoubtedly trigger another public relations disaster for the sport, although Toto Wolff, the Mercedes boss, is adamant that whoever is crowned champion will be a deserved champion.
“There’s no fair or unfair, at the end the driver with the most points wins the World Championship. We just hope it’s a fair fight, this is what F1 and the team deserves,” he told Sky Sports News HQ.
To that end, the team are working around the clock to ward off the nightmare scenario of either car breaking down and the title being lost rather than won.
“We are working very hard to provide the most reliable car to both drivers, we don’t want to have a DNF on either of the cars because of a technical reason. We are trying to limit the engine life and look at the life of all the crucial parts in the car with that extra diligent approach than we had before. We want the battle between the two to be on the track,” added Wolff.
“The battle is very intense. We must understand that emotions are high but they respect each other. They are both in the team next year and whoever loses will have another chance at the championship next year.”
It’s a potential consolation that neither Hamilton nor Rosberg will be considering next Sunday, however.
