Kimi Raikkonen, the man who ‘stole’ the 2007 world title from Lewis Hamilton, on Thursday gave the defending champion advice on how to do the same to Nico Rosberg this weekend.
The Finn, who overturned a seven-point deficit to then-rookie Hamilton at the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix, told him – just carry on as usual.
Raikkonen, who was Ferrari’s last champion driver, said: “When I was in that situation, obviously we had nothing to lose — so we went as at any other race.
“We had a strong weekend and a strong last part of the year, so obviously that helped.
“I don’t think there’s a point in doing anything different than you normally do.
“You always come to a race and try to do the maximum. Our only chance was to try to win and then obviously we had some luck involved and all things fell into place.
“Who knows what will happen on Sunday, but whoever wins deserves it.”
Nine years on from Raikkonen’s dramatic success, Hamilton has to overhaul a 12-point deficit to Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg if he is to keep his crown as champion.