Lewis Hamilton said he will not receive preferential treatment from McLaren despite opening up a significant lead over his team-mate Jenson Button following yesterday's Belgian grand prix.Hamilton won his third race of the season and the 14th of his career to move three points clear of Mark Webber with six races remaining. Button was left feeling despondent after he crashed out for the second successive season at Spa.
Button was on course to finish runner-up when he was speared from his left-hand side by an out-of-control Sebastian Vettel in his Red Bull who had misjudged his braking in attempting to overtake.
Yet with 150 points still available, Hamilton said McLaren will not favour himself over Button until the situation dictates otherwise.
"I get the same treatment as Jenson and that enables us both to score maximum points so I don't feel there should be any preferential treatment," Hamilton said. "Obviously the team do the best they can to the maximum for each of us. There's no more they can do."
Hamilton dismissed the suggestion the title race is now between himself and Red Bull's Webber, who had to be content with second after starting from pole. Along with Button, Vettel and Fernando Alonso also failed to score a point, with the German finishing 15th and the Spaniard crashing out in the wet late on.
Hamilton is now 31 points ahead of Vettel yet despite the cushion he added: "You've seen in the last few races how quickly things can change. We still have a long way to go and there are still many points to be grabbed by any of the drivers who are fighting for the title.
"Clearly for me my closest rival in the championship is Mark in terms of points, but I still think the championship is open. Obviously we want to make sure that's not the case after another few races."
The Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, described Hamilton as "the luckiest man in Belgium" after the 25-year-old narrowly avoided collision with a barrier. As the rain came with 10 laps to go, Hamilton ran wide on the greasy surface and on to the gravel at Rivage, coming within inches of hitting a wall.
Hamilton said: "That was the biggest moment for me. I made it all the way out to the wall and just clipped it a little with the edge of my wing. I was very fortunate to get away with that. I was very blessed. The Lord definitely had his hand over me there."
Source: The Guardian
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