Lewis Hamilton has defended his tactics during today's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Appearing to take his team orders from Red Bull boss, Christian Horner, as opposed to his own team, Lewis Hamilton followed the Briton's advice to the letter today.

Ahead of the weekend, hoping to see his own drivers profit from the in-team battle for the title at Mercedes, Christian Horner had suggested that Lewis Hamilton's best hope of retaining his title was to take the lead and subsequently slow and back-up the German into the clutches of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.

Obeying the orders to the letter, much to the annoyance of his own team, Hamilton duly slowed - at times as much as 9s off his pole-winning time - thereby backing Rosberg into the clutches of... Sebastian Vettel.

Despite repeated instructions from his team, Hamilton carried on regardless, leading to Toto Wolff describing his behaviour as "anarchy".

However, the three-time world champion defended his tactics.

"I don't think I did anything dangerous, I don’t feel I did anything unfair," he told reports. We were fighting for a championship, I was in the lead, I control the pace, that’s the rules."

Asked if he was annoyed by the calls from the team, he replied: "Not really. I don't know why they didn't just let us race.

"There was never a moment where I felt I was going to lose the race," he insisted.

"It is a shame that it is quite clear their thought process..." he trailed off, "I don't have much to say to be honest.

"I was hoping he would close up but his tyres were going off towards the end," he said of Sebastian Vettel who was shadowing both Mercedes having made a late change to the supersoft tyres. "Nico drove well to not make mistakes.

"It was pretty chilled at the end," he insisted. "It may have been intense for you but not intense for me.

"For me, I am in a position where I had a lot of points lost during the season so for me I am out there fighting and generally never try to do anything to harm the team or the brand. We won the constructors' championship so it was down to me and Nico today. However they felt they still needed to make comments. We will discuss it afterwards as we all do."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Abu Dhabi, here.

LATEST NEWS

more news >

LATEST IMAGES

galleries >

Click to go to the main galleries section

READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Pavlo, 29/11/2016 13:53

"All who think that Lewis did it wrong, please answer one question - with Mercedes performance and that points difference, why did you turn on your TV at all, what did you want to see on a screen? Especially those, who write they are fans of Lewis.
You wanted to see truly boring 1-2 win? Or maybe you hoped for a crash in Turn1, or engine blowing on Nico's car? Or maybe you expected Vettel and Verstappen to show extremely cool performance and win the WDC for Lewis? Would that make Lewis a great champion or a better person in your eyes?
Or do you probably think, that Lewis would be more glad to see something like that happening and simply win the WDC?
He played within the rules, so what is unfair? In my view, Lewis did exactly what he should as a great person and a great driver - tried to become a champion himself, not hoping for other to help him. That also required more skills and talent than simply winning and praying for Nico to DNF. That's what I expected to see, and what I was really enjoying."

Rating: Positive (2) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

2. Posted by Ro, 29/11/2016 13:47

"If Lewis Hamilton was going that slow, why didnt Rosberg just overtake him ? Maybe Rosberg is not so much of a racer than someone who just plays the odds. Keke Rosberg texted Nico "push". I didnt see him do that at all. Give Lewis a break. I cant see Lewis staying at Mercedes after 2017....where to then ? Ferrari, Red Bull or McLaren ? Whatever car he will drive he will still be the man to beat."

Rating: Positive (3) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

3. Posted by C5, 29/11/2016 0:02

"I'm sure Lewis didn't feel he did anything unfair.

A great driver. Absolutely. A great person? Not so much.
"

Rating: Negative (-1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

4. Posted by Whassamaddau, 28/11/2016 20:18

"I don't disagree with Lewis that he did anything outside the rules. I also agree with Christian Horner that no rule was broken. However, what he did was unsporting. There are unspoken rules in sport that are not breached because they are there to keep the playing field level. True sportsmen want to beat their opponent while he or she is at the absolute peak of their game. What Lewis did placed Rosberg in a weaker position and it risked placing him in harm's way due to the possibility of getting caught up in an event with Vettel or Verstappen. Had that happened, Lewis would be the WDC but it wouldn't have been deserved or well received by most F1 fans. And for the record, I think Lewis is great and I love watching him drive and win but yesterday was disappointing. "

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

5. Posted by Spindoctor, 28/11/2016 20:17

"Enough already!
Lewis was right, the team was wrong. He went fast enough to win, even going so slowly he was posting to snapchat down the straights. If they were that bothered, other drivers should have gone faster, but the Mercs are so fast, that didn't seem to be possible."

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

6. Posted by Ex F1 Official, 28/11/2016 13:34

"What an idiot. He was slow. Got slower Dis-obeyed Team orders Three times

What a clown. Never had respect for him as an individual, and even less yesterday"

Rating: Negative (-3) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

7. Posted by -ape-, 28/11/2016 9:02

"Why didn't Nico pass Lewis ... ??
I am sure if Lewis or say Max was in the position of Nico they wouldn't wait .
This is racing not chess."

Rating: Positive (2) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

Hamilton: I don't feel I did anything unfair

LATEST NEWS

RELATED ARTICLES

LATEST IMAGES

POST A COMMENT

Post your comment

READERS COMMENTS

Share this page