Hamilton vow: 'I'll try in Japan'
2012-10-04 09:01
A LITTLE SPONSOR TIME: Brit F1 driver Lewis Hamilton (right) talks to the news media during a function ahead of the 2012 Ja[anese F1 GP. Image: AFP
SUZUKA, Japan - McLaren Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton was silent on Wednesday about his high-profile move to Mercedes in 2013 while he attended a sponsor's event in Tokyo ahead of Sunday's 2012 Japanese GP.
The 27-year-old Briton, 2008 World champion, has not spoken publicly about the switch since Mercedes announced last Friday that he would join them on a three-year deal from the start of the 2013 F1 season. Asked about the transfer before reporters, cameramen and TV crews, Hamilton said he would only speak about the Swiss watchmaker, one of his sponsors, which organised the event.
'IMPORTANT FOR US'
Hamilton will again face the media after he travels to Suzuka on Thursday to join his McLaren team mate and fellow Briton Jenson Button to prepare for the 15th event in the 20-race season.
"This weekend, it is an important race for us," he said of the Japanese GP which he has not won since joining F1 in 2007.
Hamilton's fourth win of the season eluded him at the Singapore GP two weeks earlier; he retired with a broken gearbox after starting from pole and is fourth in the Drivers' championship.
"I love the track. It's absolutely phenomenal," Hamilton said of the 5.8km figure-of-eight Suzuka circuit. "It's one of the real racers' circuits - it's a track at which I have not won so I'll try..."
