26/10/2017
NEWS STORY
To paraphrase The Velvet Underground, "despite all the permutations..." Lewis Hamilton isn't interested in finishing fifth in order to claim his fourth title this weekend and put Sebastian Vettel out of his misery, the Briton wants to do it in style by claiming his tenth win of the season.
"I plan to win. I'm not here for anything else but number one," he told reporters ahead of this weekend's big race.
"I was just thinking about it as I was walking here," he continued. "It is true that I only need to finish fifth, but I think to myself; 'how would I feel if I was to finish fifth and win the world championship?' It wouldn't feel great.
"I want to be on the top of the podium," he grinned. "You want to be up there, as a racing driver, you constantly want to show your performance and your strength and you never want that to waiver. So, that's my goal this weekend.
"It's going to be difficult," he admitted, "I think a lot closer between Red Bull and Ferrari and us. But I love that, and so I'm hoping that if I'm able to drive like I did in the last race, last week, I think it could be a good weekend."
"I'm very, very proud to raise the British flag every time I'm on the podium. And to be up there with the greats, now potentially one step ahead of the greats in the UK, it's beyond my dreams and beyond my family's wildest dreams."
Check out our Thursday gallery from Mexico, here.