Hamilton says Mercedes car is "stubborn"

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton "has no idea" how his "stubborn" W08 Mercedes car will perform at this weekend's Japanese GP.

Mercedes have struggled for consistentcy in the previous two races in Singapore and Malaysia, despite Hamilton's victory at Marina Bay, and the Briton's second place at the Sepang International Circuit.

Mercedes' team boss Toto Wolff was particularly unhappy with the speed of the car in Singapore, with Hamilton limping to fifth on the grid in qualifying, before turning things around on race day after Red Bull's Max Verstappen and the Ferrari pair of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen crashed at the first corner.

"Still this deep into the season I have no idea where it [the W08 car] is going be good, where it's going be great - like Silverstone - or where it'll be a real struggle like Malaysia or Singapore," three-time world champion Hamilton said.

"All I've got to do is make sure I'm fit, healthy, focused, there on time, at the meeting, understood the car and I've done my study. Basically, prepare for war.

"That's what I try and do, make sure every weekend I'm the best prepared I can be."

Wolff called this season's Mercedes a "diva" after a difficult Monaco GP in May, where Hamilton finished seventh behind winner Vettel, but the 32-year-old believes there are similiarities between him the car.

"I didn't say it was a diva. Toto did," Hamilton added.

"I don't know if I have as good a word as that. Not that's it's a diva. Stubborn, but it's cool because I'm stubborn.

"Me and the car have lots of things in common because it has got great potential but doesn't always want to do what you tell it to do. That's the best way of describing it."

Hamilton leads Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in the drivers' standings by 34 points with five races of the season to go, while the Brackley-based team also top the constructors' championship by a margin of 118 points.

The Mercedes' driver insists he will not take "silly risks" in Japan, but says he won't drive over-cautiously at Suzuka in order to protect his lead.

"The goal is to continue to win races even if I don't have to," he said.

"I think that’s the best way. I'm still hunting it, I'm not defending it, I'm still hunting, I'm still chasing. Until that last flag, until I've actually got it, you’ve got to keep pushing as hard as you can. That's my theory."

The Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka will be shown live over the weekend of 6-8 October on eir Sport in Ireland. The race is live on eir Sport 1 on Sunday, 8 October [race time 6am]

Photo Getty Images/Mark Thompson

eir Sport channels are available across the eir Vision, Sky and Vodafone TV platforms as well as on the eir Sport app. All 7 channels in the eir Sport pack are available for free if you are a residential eir broadband customer