F1: Lewis Hamilton says media needs to show more respect for rival Sebastian Vettel

Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium - August 26, 2018 Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel celebrates on the podium after winning the race while Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton looks on
Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium - August 26, 2018 Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel celebrates on the podium after winning the race while Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton looks on Reuters

Lewis Hamilton has come in support of his arch-rival, Sebastian Vettel, and said that the media should get off the back of the German F1 driver.

Vettel has been criticised by a section of the media for making vital mistakes while praising Hamilton for having the killer instinct to dominate races.

On Tuesday, Hamilton through his Instagram account, backed the German and said that the media should show the four-time world champion more respect.

"I feel the media need to show a little more respect for Sebastian. You simply cannot imagine how hard it is to do what we do at our level, for any athlete at the top of their game that is. It is to be expected that being humans we will make mistakes but it is how we get through them that counts," said Hamilton.

In the previous race at the Suzuka circuit in Japan, Vettel, who had a poor qualifying run on Saturday, collided with Red Bull's Max Verstappen, and fell to the back of the grid, only to fight back and finish sixth position. Hamilton now has a 67-point lead to the German with four races to go in the season.

Following the Japanese Grand Prix, Hamilton bemoaned the fact that Vettel and Ferrari aren't pushing him and the Mercedes team and hoped that the fight would go on till the last round in Abu Dhabi.

The English driver can win the championship at the United States Grand Prix if he wins the race and Vettel ends the race in third or below. If Hamilton wins the drivers championship, he will be on 5 drivers title, joint second with the great Juan Manuel Fangio, and two behind the most successful driver in F1, Michael Schumacher, who ended with 7 championships.

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