Lewis Hamilton claims the final two races are important in trying to gain any advantage possible going into 2020.
After wrapping up the championship last time out in Austin, the Brazilian and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix’s are essentially deadwood with only race victories at stake.
However, as Hamilton explained, though there is less on the line, the potential impact the final two events can have for the future is considerable.
“It doesn’t make it easier. I still want to win the races,” he said at Interlagos.
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“It’s just as hard to win these races that are coming up, but it’s almost a different approach for me now because you can be a little bit more aggressive and try some different strategies and different ways in how you go about the weekend and the processes.
“We’ve got two freebies, basically, to try some new things that can [be improved] next year.
“Obviously next year we only have six days as opposed to eight of testing [in pre-season] so every tiny bit of an advantage you can gain in terms of changing things and gaining and being dynamic hopefully can pay dividends next year, so that’s our goal.”
The reduced significance has also allowed Mercedes boss Toto Wolff to skip his first F1 race in six years to focus on other projects.
Though Hamilton initially joked calling his absence a “breath of fresh air”, the world champion played down any impact on the team.
“I think he has such a presence in this team that even whilst he’s not here he’s still here,” he explained.
“Everything that’s been set up is because of him and all the people that he’s put in place and everybody’s still here knuckling down as normal.
“Just because you don’t see them on the pit wall and don’t see them in the meetings but I know he’s done the debrief on the other end and listening to everything that we’re saying.
“So I think everyone’s behaving as well as they can.”