18:11 – Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton has dismissed “silly” talk over his prospects of securing the 2017 championship at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.
Hamilton heads into the upcoming event 59 points clear of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, after his recent strong form, allied to a dismal sequence of fortune for his title opponent.
Hamilton will clinch the crown if he wins, and Vettel is sixth or lower, or he is second, Vettel finishes ninth or lower, and team-mate Valtteri Bottas does not win.
Hamilton, though, insists he is not focusing on the title permutations, and is merely focused on triumphing at the Circuit of the Americas for a fourth straight season.