F1: No Regrets On Mercedes Move, Hamilton Insists

Formula 1

F1: No Regrets On Mercedes Move, Hamilton Insists

Lewis Hamilton says he still feels good about joining Mercedes next year...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted November 15, 2012 Austin, TX

Lewis Hamilton participates in a press conference at Circuit of the Americas in Austin. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Lewis Hamilton has shrugged off suggestions from McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh that he already regrets his move to Mercedes.

Whitmarsh made the comment to the official F1 website last week.

“I was a little bit surprised to hear that,” said Hamilton on Thursday in Austin. “It’s clearly absolutely not the case. I’ve got a great team and I’ve been with them such a long time. So, I’m sure everyone has emotions within the team but I’m still here giving 100 percent to them for the last two races. Of course, it’s quite emotional for me but I’m very, very happy with the decision I’ve made.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton says that he has no reason stay clear of the championship battle this weekend as he has his own race to run.

“We have no means to try and get in the way of anyone, but we want to beat them,” he said. “We're still fighting for position in the championship, even though we're not fighting for the top position, so we just have to focus on our job. Kimi (Raikkonen) did a great job in the last race. I think we were very strong as well. Hopefully, we will have less reliability issues this weekend and hopefully we can compete right at the front with all these guys.”

The 2007 World Champion was impressed by what he’s seen of Circuit of the Americas so far: “It’s quite an interesting track. It’s quite difficult to learn initially but it looks fantastic to drive. I really started to enjoy it once I got used to it, which took perhaps a little bit longer than some of the other circuits to learn, but it’s going to be very interesting this weekend.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.

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