After comprehensively trouncing his title rival Sebastian Vettel at the Japanese Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton has come to the defence of the Ferrari driver by calling on media to show respect for the four-times Formula 1 World Champion as they bombard him and the Italian with criticism.
In the wake of a dismal weekend at Suzuka for Ferrari, their self-inflicted destruction visible to all in qualifying and on race day while, in contrast, Hamilton blitzed to his ninth victory of the season, leading a Mercedes one-two while the Reds faltered and had virtually conceded both 2018 titles to their rivals by the end of the day.
A barrage of criticism has descended on Maranello from media, the Italian press particularly vehement and Vettel copping big flak from every quarter after that "if I don’t go for that gap and the gap was there…" ill-timed overtake attempt went awry, and any title hopes are now as unlikely as the earth being bombarded by cheese balls from the moon.
News of the post-Suzuka fallout obviously reached Hamilton who is clearly aware of the bad mouthing, the Briton reacted by delivering a message of support to Vettel on Instagram:
Toto Wolff also defended Vettel's actions, "I’m not sure it was his mistake. Sebastian recovered well from his starting position and at that stage was a solid fourth."
"As a racing driver you either have to go for it or not and the door looked open. He gave it a go but a racing incident caused him to drop all the way back," added the Mercedes chief.
Hamilton heads to Austin, seeking to wrap up his fifth F1 world title, with a 67 points lead over Vettel in the drivers' standings while Mercedes lead Ferrari by 78 points.
https://www.grandprix247.com/2018/10/08/vettel-if-i-dont-go-for-that-gap-i-may-well-stay-at-home/
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