Lewis Hamilton Brushes Off Criticism

Lewis Hamilton's Japanese Grand Prix wasn't everything he wanted or expected it to be. With other drivers now expressing their doubt and worry about his driving ability, how is he shaping up for this weekend?

Lewis told the press that he hadn't heard any of the criticism from the other drivers. "I haven’t seen that,” he said.

“I was in Tokyo for a couple of days and then I came here and I’ve not really paid any attention to it. When you have not such a good race, there’s always going to be criticism, which doesn’t matter whether it’s positive or negative; you move forward, you put it in the past."

Hamilton is still confident he can go on to win this year's World Championship. He told the media "Coming here, I feel just as strong as I always do. We’ve still got two races, we’re still five points ahead, I still have a great opportunity to make the next step."

Many drivers, fans, and F1 critics are saying that Hamilton has to curb his aggressive driving style. But, when Lewis was asked if he was going to drive more conservative this weekend, he simply replied, "no," and continued on to say "I don’t plan on changing my approach—it’s not necessary"

When asked about the incident on lap one at Fuji, the 23-year-old said, "It was a racing maneuver and it didn’t come off but that’s motor racing, what can you do?"

Looking ahead to this weekend, Lewis is confident that the Shanghai International Circuit will suit his MP4-23 car and insists that, as always, Ferrari and McLaren will be very closely matched.

“The car is very competitive and we were very quick here last year but we should perhaps be a little bit more competitive this year with the good car that we have,” he said.

“But it is going to be a very tough weekend without a doubt, so we will try and do the best job we can.”