Lewis Hamilton defends himself against Christian Horner’s comments – Formula 1 news
McLaren-Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has dismissed Christian Horner’s recent comments about the potential challenger to Sebastian Vettel.
Horner tagged Hamilton’s teammate Jenson Button as the main threat to Sebastian Vettel’s third title in a row. Hamilton had a torrid time last year and performed below his potential. He faced issues both on and off the track and it affected not only his
driving but his confidence as well. Button was able to finish better than Hamilton in the drivers’ championship a first for Hamilton since his debut.
Hamilton was hugely criticised over his on track behaviour as he was engaged in several run-ins with the Brazilian Felipe Massa. Although Hamilton refocused half way through the season and went on to win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which was a huge factor in
gaining his confidence back.
Bernie Ecclestone has tipped Hamilton to make a strong comeback and McLaren is also naturally backing him. Hamilton also believes that 2012 is going to be a good year for him.
“It's the first time I've heard of [this] but they definitely don't wind me up,” Hamilton told the BBC. ”There are a lot of opinions, and everybody has their right to an opinion, but it doesn't really affect me. It doesn't really matter at the end of the
day when I go out and do the job.”
“Losing to Jenson didn't really bother me. If it had been a case where we had been fiercely competitive throughout the year it would have been quite tough to deal with,” he added.
Hamilton though admitted that it was a poor year for him while maintaining that he was not too devastated afterwards. He said that he made silly mistakes and overall it was a shocking year but it is not the end of his career and he does not plan on repeating
those performances in the future. He added that it could have been a worse year for him if Button had won the title.
It will be interesting to see how Hamilton fares but the season is shaping up to be a cracker as the gap between the teams is the lowest seen in many years. The season begins with the Australian Grand Prix on March 18, 2012.
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