Hamilton not in a ‘rush’ to seal 2019 F1 title

Lewis Hamilton insists he is in no “rush” to clinch the 2019 Formula 1 drivers’ world championship title and anticipates the fight will be prolonged.

The Briton, who holds a 64-point advantage over Mercedes teammate and sole-remaining title rival Valtteri Bottas, will have his first opportunity to seal his sixth crown at the upcoming Mexican Grand Prix on October 27.

Hamilton won both his ’18 and ’17 championships in Mexico but is braced for Mercedes to struggle at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, a circuit the team has not been victorious at since 2016.

“I think for me it’s never been a case of always wanting to rush things,” Hamilton said.

“Valtteri’s driven well all year long, he’s done a great job today and he will most likely do a very very solid job these next races, so we still have a battle, the fight continues.

“I think Mexico is generally our worst race of the year because of the way our car is set up and it’s going to be a tough one for us. The last few have been pretty shocking, even though we’ve won the title there.

“I’m hoping for a better weekend but I think it’s going to be very hard to beat the Ferraris with those long straights.

“We have no hope of getting by on those straights, that’s for sure but even if you look at the others, the McLarens are picking up some serious speeds on the straights, so are the Red Bulls so I think it will be a tricky one.

“I don’t anticipate it will be Mexico. I think we will be battling for a good few races.”

Bottas ended a five-month wait to claim his third victory of the season last time out in Japan and is refusing to give up on his title hopes.

The Finn is guaranteed to take his best-ever finish in F1, while Mercedes will create further history with a sixth successive world championship double once the drivers’ title is secured.

“I don’t really give up on anything as long as there’s a theoretical chance so there’s no point in that,” Bottas said.

“Everything’s possible although I’m realistic as well that I will need to be very lucky, that’s a fact, to win all the rest of the races but yeah, I don’t really think about that much at this point.

“It is my bad, mostly, that I’ve been behind this much in the points compared to Lewis, it’s my fault which I try to fix for the future but it is where we are now and just take it now race by race and see how it goes.”