Lewis Hamilton hoping to defy odds and retain F1 title in honour of Aki Hinta in Abu Dhabi
LEWIS HAMILTON has spoken of the emotional anguish that is driving his quest to defy the odds and retain his World Championship in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
The Mercedes racer saw his friend and mentor Aki Hintsa lose his 18-month battle with cancer last week.
Hamilton has revealed how he flew straight from his victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix to the Geneva bedside of the Finnish doctor, 58, who has been instrumental in his F1 break.
Now the three-time world champ wants to pay Hintsa the ultimate tribute by winning's Sunday sunset showdown with team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton, 31, said: "I was very close with him and his family and I was very, very fortunate to actually get to see him on the last day of his...
"On the Monday after Brazil, we played music, I got to see him smile, got to see the amazing man he was.
"He was very instrumental in me getting that seat at McLaren. Aki would take me through all these tests and he would look at me deeply in my eyes and like 'yeah, you're ready, I can tell.'
"You hear about prisoners who have done the worse things who die happily in their sleep and then you hear about someone who is almost a saint like Aki who would go to Ethiopia and help children.
"Coming here while I have that fighting spirit in my heart from the last races I've done, I come here with almost double the power in the sense that I feel that I want to win this race more so for him.
"It's an emotional time, I'm here to try and do him proud, do well for him as he had helped prepare me and the belief he had in me."
Hamilton went from Geneva to Los Angeles to spend time with his friend Serena Williams before arriving in Abu Dhabi for the battle the world wants to see as he faces Rosberg, who leads the title race by 12 points.
And despite the polite smiles yesterday, there is clearly little love lost between the Mercedes duo who did not shake hands as they posed for the photographers.
Hamilton can sense that the nerves are getting to the German who has lost the world championship to his team-mate for the past two years.
Rosberg only needs to finish in the top three to win the title, even if Hamilton triumphs in the race.
This season's battle has seen more twists and turns than the roller-coaster at the nearby Ferrari world theme park.
Hamilton was trailing by 43 points at one stage, fought back to lead the championship but then found himself 33 points behind again after the mechanical gremlins struck.
But a hat-trick of wins has taken the contest down to the wire
But for his engine blowing while leading in Malaysia, Hamilton's fourth drivers' crown would surely have been tucked away by now. And he knows it.
He said: "I've been able to win the last three races and I feel I can win this one. I want to really hammer home the win."
Resurgent Red Bull, and perhaps Ferrari, may yet play a part and deny Rosberg, also 31, the podium spot he needs to be sure of emulating father Keke and joining Graham and Damon Hill as the only father-and-son world champions.
But it is a head-to-head between the Mercedes duo that the 60,000 sell-out crowd want to see at the £1billion Yas Marina circuit.
The fans are here for the duel in the desert the sport, reeling from a lack of real track battles and engulfed in how to reduce the role played by the engineers, badly needs.
And the hotels are cashing in.
The luxury ones, oases of green landscaped lawns and simmering blue swimming pools in the heat and dust of the Arabian peninsula, are charging upwards of £1000 a night.
There are no shortage of takers with the race a sell-out long ago as the combination of F1, a title decider and some welcome winter sun proving an irresistible mix for anyone from Halifax or Helsinki, Bristol or Boston.
And there is plenty else to entertain the crowds apart from the racing and the adjacent theme park.
Hip-hop artist Pitbull, The Chemical Brothers and Lionel Richie are all performing before the post-race concert is headlined by pop princess Rihanna.
On Sunday they will see which driver's name is lit-up like Diamonds.