Lewis Hamilton claimed to play mind games only works for the “weak-minded”, only to then play one himself.
The six-time world champion was reflecting on the six days of testing that took place last month, which saw his Mercedes team once again top the time and distance sheets.
Meanwhile, there were mixed expectations from their main rivals as Red Bull anticipate being able to challenge in Australia, while Ferrari claims they are only just ahead of the midfield pack.
“I don’t pay attention to anybody to anyone else through testing,” Hamilton told Sky Sports. “We literally just focus on our job and I have no idea what other people have been saying.
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“I’ve been here a long, long time so I’m aware of people bigging us up and talking themselves down so that they can potentially overachieve unexpectedly or whatever.
“It doesn’t make a difference.
“Some people think that it’s a psychological battle but it’s really not, for the weak-minded maybe but it doesn’t affect us whatsoever.”
In his very next answer though, when asked if Mercedes expect to go to the opening race in Australia ahead, he appeared to play down the possibility.
“I have no idea where we stand compared to the others,” Hamilton said. “The team will probably have a better idea than that – I don’t know where everybody else is.
“I think I understand the car well so I’m comfortable and confident in terms of getting in the car for Melbourne and knowing that I’ll be able to attack and extract the most from it.
“But whether that’s going to be enough to be ahead of others, we’ll find out.”
Oh dear, Lewis.
