Hamilton brushes off Rosberg threat
Lewis Hamilton has shrugged off Nico Rosberg’s threat that he is feeling back to his best – insisting that is still not good enough to beat him.
Reigning world champion Hamilton has enjoyed a fine start to his title defence, winning three of the opening four races and finishing second to Sebastian Vettel in Malaysia.
That gives him a 27-point lead over Mercedes team-mate Rosberg – the man with whom he was enveloped in a bitter title tussle for much of 2014.
Hamilton came out on top in that battle and the Briton is not worried by Rosberg’s suggestion he is ready to get his 2015 campaign on track with a strong showing at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
When asked what he thought of Rosberg saying he was boosted and ready to put together a perfect weekend, Hamilton bullishly replied: “If he is saying he brought his best game last year then I don’t really have too much to worry about.”
Although he has so far dominated the 2015 campaign, Hamilton insists he still has work to do – although he enjoyed the three-week gap between his win in Bahrain and the fifth round in Barcelona.
The 30-year-old racked up over 17,000 miles as he took in a New York fashion event and the Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao fight in Las Vegas among a host of activities during his down-time – with trips to Los Angeles, Rome, Majorca and London also ticked off before he flew out to Spain.
“I wouldn’t call it having it my own way, I’m just doing the best with what I have,” he said of his season so far.
“I’m really enjoying travel more than ever. I don’t think I ever enjoyed it as much as I do now.
“I like going to different places and spending a lot of time with my brother and this has been the best year so far for us in terms of spending time together.
“We are both doing our jobs to the best we can do them but our relationship is stronger than ever.”
With Hamilton at ease both in the car and out, his rivals could be dealt another blow if he takes the chequered flag at the Circuit de Catalunya.
He was within a tenth of a second of Rosberg as the German topped the timesheet after free practice one but was untouchable in the afternoon session – clocking a time 0.408 seconds faster than second-placed Vettel.
