WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
L
ewis Hamilton insists he did
nothing wrong during the closing
laps in Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand
Prix when he slowed the pace to make
life difficult for title-rival Nico Rosberg.
The defending three-time world
champion won, but his Mercedes
teammate Rosberg finished second
under intense pressure to claim the
championship.
“I don’t think I did anything
dangerous, I don’t think I did anything
unfair,” said Hamilton.
“We were fighting for the
championship, I was in the lead so I
control the pace…. That is the rules.”
Hamilton twice ignored team
instructions to pick up the pace, firstly
from his race engineer and then from
Mercedes technical chief Paddy Lowe,
as he backed up the field to try and
push Rosberg within reach of Sebastian
Vettel of Ferrari.
Asked during a post-race news
conference if he was annoyed by the
team instructions, he said: “Not really.
I don’t know why they didn’t just let us
race.
“There was never a moment where
I felt I was going to lose the race. It is a
shame that it is quite clear their thought
process … and I don’t have much to
say to be honest.
“I was hoping he (Vettel) would
close up, but his tyres were going off
towards the end – and Nico drove well
to not make mistakes.