The 26 year-old Hamilton laughed when told of this. “I hadn’t heard that,” he
said. “I don’t know how much more manly I can get. I think he’s just being
positive and showing he still has huge belief in me. He’s aware things have
not been easy but he knows I will rise above it.
“Hopefully I will be back at the front next year but a lot of that depends on
whether we have the car and the performance we have now.”
Hamilton will be accompanied in Delhi this weekend by his manager, Simon
Fuller, which is interesting if only for the fact that his father — also in
India in his capacity as manager of Force India driver Paul di Resta — was
deeply critical of the Pop Idol creator earlier this year, saying he
should attend all of Hamilton’s races.
“I feel positive coming into the weekend,” Hamilton said, “knowing that we
were competitive in the last race [in Korea, where he finished second]. I’m
just trying to keep my mind focused on business.”
Red Bull, meanwhile, have not ruled out the possibility of using team orders
in Sunday’s race in order to help Mark Webber finish second in the
championship.