Lewis Hamilton says “you can’t prepare for losing”, though the Mercedes driver is familiar with the sentiment after snatching defeat from the jaws of victory during his 2007 rookie campaign.
With two races left in the current season, Hamilton trails Nico Rosberg by 19 points, which means the championship leader can afford to finish second in the remaining races and still seal the crown regardless of his team-mate’s result.
Asked after his win in Mexico how he would react to missing out on a fourth title, Hamilton replied: “I don’t think you can prepare for losing. I don’t think you can prepare to lose, but I have experienced it before. I lost in 2007, I know it won’t be as painful as it was then.
“I’ve lost many races, I’ve lost championships through my career so it’s not like I haven’t experienced it. I’m in the scenario right now I know that there’s more of a chance that I’ll lose it than a win it.
“It’s hard to swallow, but it is what it is. I’ll move on, I’ve still got three so I just really hope that next year I don’t have the reliability problems.”
Having taken F1 by storm as a rookie in 2007, Hamilton was leading that year’s Drivers’ standings by 17 points with two grands prix left and the previous 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 points scoring system still enforced.
However, the McLaren ace ended up losing out to Kimi Raikkonen for a single point after a stunning retirement in China and seventh-place finish in Brazil following troubles on the opening lap.
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