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Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bottas
needs a miracle to deny Lewis Hamilton a sixth Formula One title but he still has hope.
Hamilton has a 64-point lead with four races remaining and will clinch the crown in Mexico today if he scores 14 points more than Bottas . This may be difficult to achieve, given that Briton has managed that only once this season and Mexico has not favored Mercedes in the last two years.
However, on Thursday Bottas made clear that he had not given up all hope: “I’m not superstitious in any way really but crazy things can always happen, I believe,” he told reporters at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez when asked whether he believed in miracles. He added: “I’ve seen many different crazy things. You never know,” he added.
Mercedes
has struggled in Mexico for the past two seasons, but Bottas expressed hope those problems might not happen today: “Last year we had a really difficult race , we were struggling a lot with the tire drop-off. I don’t know how many pit-stops we did,” he said.
“The tires are slightly harder this year, which could help, and it is a different car and very different setup (...) what we saw in Japan as we have a good race car and hopefully that will be the case on Sunday again.”
The Finn said Mercedes , who had no driver on the podium in Mexico last year, had understood and analyzed last year’s problems.
“We think we know what we should do and we try to fix and do better than last year,” he added. “It was really related to the tires and which kind of temperature window you operate them and make them last.”
Charles Leclerc
On the other hand, Charles Leclerc, a young Formula One driver , is in Mexico after a season that catapulted him into the spotlight as the Italian team ’s brightest prospect.
Next season, if Ferrari carries their gathering momentum into 2020 , could see Leclerc challenging for the championship after losing out to Hamilton ’s Mercedes outfit this year.
The Monegasque driver said he was keen to see more use of bio-fuels , with talk of the sport increasing the content to 20% when new rules come into force in 2021 .
“I am definitely interested in that and I think Formula One should do the absolute maximum to try and go in that direction,” he said.
This season, Leclerc has more than matched his teammate Sebastian Vettel and with only four races remaining, he is ahead of the four times world champion on points, podiums, wins, and poles.
His four poles in a row between Belgium and Russia took his tally to six for the season, drawing comparisons to Ferrari great Michael Schumacher .
Both Ferrari and their drivers have paid the price for mistakes and mechanical failures, against Mercedes rivals who rarely put a wheel wrong, and Leclerc said he and the team had work to do in 2020 .
Mercedes
are sure of an unprecedented sixth successive title double this year, with Hamilton in a position to wrap up his sixth drivers’ championship at the 2019 Mexican Grand Prix today and the constructors’ crown already won.
Ferrari
looks safe in second place and will go into the race with high hopes, literally at a track some 2,200 meters above sea level.
Leclerc
recognized there was a chance of adding a third win to his season’s tally.
“Overall I think (…) we should be quite good. There are long straights, our engine seems to be working pretty well, our straight-line speed is good and our cornering speed since some races are also good,” he said.
“Let’s see how it goes but I’m feeling positive.”
Lewis Hamilton
On Thursday, Lewis Hamilton explained how he was trying to reduce his carbon footprint and defended his right to speak out on environmental issues while also racing around the world with Formula One .
The Mercedes driver , who can seal his sixth world championship in Mexico this weekend, said he flew less for pleasure, had banned single-use plastic from home and office, and aimed to be carbon neutral by the end of the year.
He had also got rid of some of his collection of luxury cars , which he said he rarely drove anyway and switched to hybrid or electric models. He said he was also working with the team and Mercedes on a more environmentally-friendly approach.
“I want everything recyclable, down to deodorant, toothbrush, all these kinds of things. I’m trying to make as much change as I can in my personal space,” he told reporters ahead of today’s race .
“I feel positive that I am making those changes. I’m encouraging people around me also, my friends are seeing me doing that and also being more conscious.”
Hamilton, who is vegan, attracted both criticism and support after a series of posts on social media last week in which he deplored the state of the planet and said he felt like giving up.
He told reporters on Thursday his comments had been triggered by watching a documentary and he had wanted to raise awareness.
Hamilton
said he still loved racing , but had “no interest whatsoever” in switching to the all-electric Formula E series, and accepted criticism for calling for change while continuing to race in F1 .
“It is not the easiest because yes we are traveling around the world and we are racing Formula One cars. Our car b on footprint for sure is higher than the average homeowner that lives in the same city,” he said.
“But it doesn’t mean you should be afraid to speak out about things that can be for a positive change.
“I am looking at things and how I can improve the effect I am having on the world. It takes a while. It’s not a quick fix. It’s just about education and I am trying to highlight areas."
Hamilton’s
stance was supported by other Formula One drivers .
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