LEWIS Hamilton is preparing for “war” as he aims to tame his “stubborn” Mercedes ahead of the next round of his title battle with Sebastian Vettel.
The Briton is 34 points clear of Vettel heading into this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, having increased his lead at the last two races despite being off the pace.
Hamilton came home second in Malaysia last week as Mercedes were slower than both Red Bull and Ferrari.
Vettel recovered from last on the grid to finish fourth but still lost further ground, having crashed out at the first corner in the previous round in Singapore.
That has left Hamilton in a strong position to claim a fourth word championship but both he and Mercedes head of motorsport Toto Wolff were unhappy with the team’s performance last time out.
Now Hamilton wants to be be in peak condition to move closer to the title at Suzuka.
“Still this deep into the season I have no idea where it (the car) is going be good, where it’s going be great – like Silverstone – or where it’ll be a real struggle like Malaysia or Singapore.
“All I’ve got to do is make sure I’m fit, healthy, focused, there on time, at the meeting, understood the car and I’ve done my study. Basically prepare for war.
“That’s what I try and do, make sure every weekend I’m the best prepared I can be.”
Wolff labelled this season’s Mercedes a “diva” after Monaco but Hamilton has his own interpretation and believes he has plenty in common with his car.
“I didn’t say it was a diva. Toto did,” he added.
“I don’t know if I have as good a word as that. Not that’s it’s a diva. Stubborn, but it’s cool because I’m stubborn. Me and the car have lots of things in common, because it has got great potential but doesn’t always want to do what you tell it to do.
“That’s the best way of describing it.”
Vettel started last in Malaysia after an engine problem meant he was unable to set a time in qualifying.
He was also involved in a strange incident at the end of the race when he and the Williams of Lance Stroll collided on the cool-down lap.
Vettel’s Ferrari was left stranded as he hitched a lift back to the pits on the Sauber of Pascal Wehrlein – but tests showed he does not require a gearbox change heading into this weekend. The German believes Ferrari now need to be at their best to overhaul Hamilton after his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was also plagued by issues in Malaysia – qualifying second before a battery issue prevented him from starting the race.
“We are behind in the championship so we need to score much more than them (Mercedes),” he said.
“How we achieve it doesn’t matter as long as we achieve it. It will be much more straightforward if we get our optimum and ideally win a lot of races, then we have a better chance,” Vettel added.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here