The British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), leader of the F1 World Cup, asked for “more respect” from the media for his German rival Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), whose mistakes in the recent Japanese GP compromised his options.
“I think the media should show more respect towards Sebastian,” Hamilton wrote on his Instagram account. “They cannot imagine how hard doing what we do at this level is hard (…) We are human, so it is to be expected that we make mistakes, the important thing is how we overcome them.”
Winner of the last four grands prix and six of the last seven races, the Briton extended his lead in the World Championship to 67 points.
He will seal his fifth world title at the United States GP, 18th out of 21 this season, on October 21, if he scores at least eight points more than Vettel.
The German could only be sixth in the recent Japanese race after making a slight impact with the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull).
That was not the Ferrari driver’s first mistake this season. Vettel also made mistakes in Azerbaijan, France, Germany and Italy. AFP