SAO PAULO: Lewis Hamilton expects another fierce challenge from Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg when the pair resumes hostilities at the Brazilian Grand Prix with the season-ending Abu Dhabi double points lottery looming.
Only days after claiming his 10th win of the season at the US Grand Prix in Texas, Hamilton has pledged to work as hard as possible to triumph again in his bid for a second championship.
But the 2008 champion knows that even if he wins at Interlagos on Sunday, and his German rival fails to finish, he can still miss out on the title if he flops in Abu Dhabi and Rosberg grabs double points with a victory worth 50 points in the final race of the season.
"I feel that I understand the processes that I need and I know what it takes," said Hamilton as he looked ahead to this weekend's race.
"There's no real special recipe or anything like that, I'm just going to work really hard for these next two races and try to improve."
In Texas, he admitted that the prospect of losing the title under the double points rule in Abu Dhabi ‘would suck’.
Meanwhile, Rosberg has said he will be going for the win no matter what happens — his focus was solely on the championship title.
"It is what it is, I don't really care," said Rosberg. "As long as I have one point more at the chequered flag at Abu Dhabi, I don't care why or how. It's the same for everybody... It's a childhood dream, isn't it, to be Formula One World Champion? It would be very special."
After their domination in Texas, the two Mercedes men have been left as the only contenders for the title while behind them the attention will focus on the plight of struggling teams and their prospects for next year.
A provisional entry list issued by the ruling body, the International Automobile Federation, this week included teams representing both Caterham and Marussia, even though they are both expected to be absent in Brazil where another 18-car grid is in prospect. Marussia's entry has been made under the name of Manor Grand Prix Racing.
Entry payments are required by the end of November.
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