Lewis Hamilton has rejected former teammate Nico Rosberg’s claim that his fifth world championship triumph would be purely because of Sebastian Vettel’s recent mistakes.
After a run of six wins in eight races and nine straight podiums, the Briton sits just five points away from securing the title, meaning he needs a seventh-place finish or better in Mexico on Sunday to be out of reach of his nearest challenger.
That’s a far cry from the type of battle that was expected during the summer when Ferrari appeared in the ascendancy and only poor luck with the weather intervening at both Hockenheim and Hungary gave Hamilton the advantage.
“It’s all about consistency and he [Vettel] has done the opposite. He’s been all over the place, really, in the last couple of months,” Rosberg told F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast.
“Him and the team both together. It’s been so one-sided since the summer it’s unbelievable.
“It was seemingly going to be Vettel who would take the championship and it’s just gone completely one direction, been total dominance since and just as a result of mistakes.
“You’re never going to beat Lewis like that because Lewis doesn’t make mistakes. Very few.”
Hamilton appeared to respond to those comments, however, on Thursday in Mexico insisting Vettel & Ferrari’s problems didn’t tell the whole story.
“I see a lot of people saying things have been handed to us, which is taking away from the job the team and I have done,” he said.
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The 33-year-old continued by suggesting this year’s championship would have extra significance because of what went into achieving it.
“Just winning the championship has been the goal. When I won my first, one of the ex-champions said it would get harder to win a second and every one after that has got harder and harder to win a championship, even though you are improving.
“But I would say this one is one of my most enjoyable years given the things I faced,” Hamilton added. “It would be the one I am most proud of and appreciate more.”