"The fact he's upset doesn't mean he's given up," says Hamilton's father after Sepang engine failure
Monday 10 October 2016 10:49, UK
Lewis Hamilton believes he can "achieve the impossible" and stay world champion, his father Anthony Hamilton has said.
Lewis Hamilton has come under fire after spending the majority of Thursday's pre-Japanese GP drivers' press conference on his phone, taking pictures of himself as well as other drivers on mobile application Snapchat.
Nico Rosberg gained further ground in the Drivers' Championship after Hamilton's engine blow-out from the lead in the Malaysia Grand Prix, but father Anthony insisted his son still has hope of catching his fellow Mercedes driver.
"One thing with Lewis is he always believes he can achieve the impossible," Anthony Hamilton told Sky Sports News HQ. "When times like last weekend happen, your engine blows and you feel like you've been hard done by, that's just the normal human emotion.
"That's what we like about Lewis, he is just the same as you or I.
"There's no airs or graces about him, he wants to win and if he doesn't win he's going to be upset. But the fact he's upset doesn't mean he's given up."
Lewis Hamilton's forced retirement in Malaysia allowed team-mate Rosberg to open a 23-point world championship advantage with just five races to go.
However, the 31-year-old world champion will hold no grudges against Rosberg if the German outperforms him to the title, according to father Anthony.
"If anyone deserves a world championship, Nico deserves a world championship," Anthony Hamilton added. "But Lewis always, always works hard.
"He won't want to give it away so I think he'll be working right to the very end.
"If Nico wins it because Lewis hasn't performed, Lewis will be the first person to go and shake his hand and say 'you know what Nico, well done'."
Mercedes have traced the fault of Lewis Hamilton's race-losing engine failure in Malaysia and issued revised running parameters for all their cars at this weekend's Japanese GP.
At Suzuka, Hamilton will revert to the engine he used at the previous race in Singapore.
