Hamilton: I'm playing a long game

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Thursday 28th August 2008

Lewis Hamilton isn't at all fazed about losing to Felipe Massa in the Valencia GP, confident his title quest is still firmly on track.

Hamilton finished second in Sunday's grand prix, having been firmly beaten by Massa's Ferrari. But even though he lost two points to the Brazilian, he extended his lead in the Championship to six points.

And even though race wins are important, the McLaren driver concedes that the bigger picture is winning the Drivers' Championship title.

"I've actually extended my lead in the Championship despite losing two points to Felipe," he told the BBC. "I'm mentally strong enough to deal with that and I'm more relaxed about it, too. I'm playing a long game.

"Clearly, I want to win all the tim but I've learned that sometimes it's more advantageous to score as many points as possible and live to fight another day.

"My aim is still to win the World Championship and you don't do that by ending up in the barriers after making an opportunistic move."