Lewis Hamilton has urged the F1 media to show more respect to title rival Sebastian Vettel. The Ferrari driver has committed a series of high-profile errors in recent races while Hamilton has won six of the last seven events to surge 67 points clear in the standings. "I feel the media need to show a little more respect for Sebastian," Hamilton wrote on social media. "You simply cannot imagine how hard it is to do what we do at our level." Vettel: Too easy for Mercedes Papers: Vettel has 'gift-wrapped' title to Hamilton Vettel, who has hitherto shunned social media, was widely criticised after his most recent mistakes, running off track in qualifying for the Japanese GP before crashing into Red Bull's Max Verstappen on race day. What did Hamilton say? In a post on his Instagram account, Hamilton wrote: "I feel the media need to show a little more respect for Sebastian. You simply cannot imagine how hard it is to do what we do at our level, for any athlete at the top of their game that is. It is to be expected that being humans we will make mistakes but it is how we get through them that counts." What did the media say about Vettel? The four-time world champion was subject to intense criticism in the wake of his Suzuka setback. "It is a measure of Lewis Hamilton's total mastery of the track that Sebastian Vettel has been reduced to the type of self-damaging, gung-ho gamble that practically gift-wrapped the world title for the Briton here on Sunday," said the Daily Mail. The Daily Telegraph wrote: "It was his seventh mistake of an increasingly erratic campaign which has unravelled since the summer break." And The Sun categorised the Ferrari driver's collision with Verstappen as "another spectacular example of just how Vettel crumbles under the pressure", describing the move as "ridiculous". But the Sky Sports F1 pundits were also critical of Vettel's driving. "Vettel only has himself to blame for that mistake," said Paul Di Resta. "He's throwing the championship away at exactly the same point it all went wrong last year." What has driven Hamilton's remarks? Just over a year ago, Hamilton was Vettel's fiercest critic in the paddock, condemning his rival's driving in the Azerbaijan GP as "disgraceful" and "disgusting". His post on Tuesday morning shows how quickly, and how far, the pair have moved on since then. Pitched into an exclusive fight for this year's world championship, and a battle which will determine whether Vettel or Hamilton will be the first to become a five-time F1 world champion, a strong current of mutual respect has coursed through their rivalry this season. Inevitably, there have been a few bumps in the road. Just two weeks ago, Hamilton made it plain he felt Vettel had been over-aggressive at the Russian GP and was fortunate to escape sanction. But Hamilton has also repeatedly expressed his pleasure at being challenged by a driver of Vettel's calibre and success, while the German has twice made a point of defending Hamilton in public. The first occasion was in Bahrain when Vettel interrupted a media conference to denounce what he felt was unfair" questioning of Hamilton, and the second after Hamilton criticised Ferrari's "interesting tactics" at the British GP before subsequently apologising. "It's fine," responded Vettel. "It was silly to say it but we are racing." Perhaps Hamilton's post on Tuesday morning was a form of payback? Others, less charitably, will no doubt ask whether Hamilton would have defended Vettel if the destiny of the championship was still in doubt. But many will simply regard Hamilton's post as a classy and generous act.<doc-sep>Lewis Hamilton has hit out in defence of Formula 1 world title rival Sebastian Vettel by calling for the media to “show a little more respect” to the Ferrari driver. The Mercedes driver moved to the edge of a historic fifth F1 world title with victory at last weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, while his championship rival Vettel endured a frustrating Suzuka race weekend. Following a tyre strategy blunder from Ferrari during qualifying in intermittent rain which left Vettel down in ninth, promoted to eighth after Esteban Ocon’s grid penalty, the German driver carved up the field but on Lap 8 collided with Max Verstappen which sent him into a spin and down to 19th. Left with a tricky task, Vettel battled back up to sixth place by the chequered flag but saw the championship deficit expand to 67 points with four rounds to go. Both Ferrari and Vettel came under fire from the media following their performances at Suzuka, with Vettel given particularly heavy scrutiny for his attempted overtake on Verstappen at Spoon curve which wrecked his race, leading to Hamilton's response to criticisms via his Instagram. “I feel the media need to show a little more respect for Sebastian,” Hamilton said in an Instagram story post. “You simply cannot imagine how hard it is to do what we do at our level, for any athlete at the top of their game that it. “It is to be expected that being humans we will make mistakes but it is how we get through them that counts.” Vettel has also come under fire this year for a series of high-profile track incidents including hitting Valtteri Bottas at the start of the French Grand Prix, dropping him to fifth as Hamilton won, plus his most costly error when he crashed out leading his home race before his title rival charged to victory at Hockenheim. Hamilton can seal the 2018 F1 world title at the next race in the United States if he wins and Vettel finishes lower than second place at the Circuit of the Americas.<doc-sep>Lewis Hamilton has said Sebastian Vettel deserves more respect after moving to defend his championship rival. Vettel attracted criticism for his collision with Max Verstappen at Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix which leaves Hamilton on the brink of winning his fifth world title. The Ferrari driver's coming together with Verstappen was his seventh significant error of the campaign, and his 10th in two seasons fighting Hamilton for the championship. Lewis Hamilton insists Sebastian Vettel does not deserve as much criticism as he is receiving JAPANESE GRAND PRIX RESULTS AND STANDINGS Race result: 1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes 1hr 27mins 17.062secs 2 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes 1:27:29.981 3 Max Verstappen (Hol) Red Bull 1:27:31.357 4 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:27:36.557 5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:28:08.060 6 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:28:26.935 7 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:28:36.441 8 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas 1:28:44.260 9 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 1:28:45.117 10 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Renault at 1 Lap 11 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Toro Rosso at 1 Lap 12 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber at 1 Lap 13 Brendon Hartley (Nzl) Toro Rosso at 1 Lap 14 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren at 1 Lap 15 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren at 1 Lap 16 Sergey Sirotkin (Rus) Williams at 1 Lap 17 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams at 1 Lap Not Classified: 18 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Sauber-Ferrari 38 Laps completed, 19 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 37 Laps completed, 20 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 8 Laps completed Fastest Lap: Sebastian Vettel 1min 32.318secs on Lap 53 Drivers' standings: 1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes 331pts 2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 264 3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes 207 4 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 196 5 Max Verstappen (Hol) Red Bull 173 6 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 146 7 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 53 8 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas 53 9 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 53 10 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 50 11 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 49 12 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Renault 39 13 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas 31 14 Pierre Gasly (Fra) Toro Rosso 28 15 Charles Leclerc (Mon) Sauber 21 16 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 8 17 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams 6 18 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber 6 19 Brendon Hartley (Nzl) Toro Rosso 2 20 Sergey Sirotkin (Rus) Williams 1 Constructors' standings: 1 Mercedes 538pts, 2 Ferrari 460, 3 Red Bull 319, 4 Renault 92, 5 Haas 84, 6 McLaren 58, 7 Force India 43, 8 Toro Rosso 30, 9 Sauber 27, 10 Williams 7 Advertisement But Hamilton, who will secure the title if he wins in Austin, Texas next Sunday and Vettel fails to finish second, insists the German is owed greater credit. 'I feel the media need to show a little more respect for Sebastian,' he wrote in a message posted to his Instagram story on Tuesday. 'You simply cannot imagine how hard it is to do what we do at our level, for any athlete at the top of their game that is. 'It is to be expected that being humans we will make mistakes but it is how we get through them that counts.' While a dominant Hamilton, who will visit the Mercedes factory in Brackley, Northamptonshire on Wednesday, has secured six victories in seven rounds of remarkable racing, Vettel and Ferrari's championship challenge has fallen dramatically off the rails. Ferrari were at fault for putting Vettel on the wrong tyres in Saturday's dry-wet qualifying session in Suzuka before the German's clash with Verstappen in the race dropped him to last. He recovered to finish sixth. Vettel protested his innocence afterwards, and said Verstappen was to blame. Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, didn't believe Vettel was at fault. 'I'm not sure it was his mistake,' he said. 'Sebastian recovered well from his starting position and at that stage was a solid fourth. 'As a racing driver you either have to go for it or not and the door looked open. He gave it a go but a racing incident caused him to drop all the way back.'<doc-sep>Lewis Hamilton has defended title rival Sebastian Vettel FREE now and never miss the top F1 stories again SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top F1 stories again When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. The Mercedes man has one hand firmly on the 2018 Drivers' Championship after producing some stunning drives since the summer break. Lewis Hamilton has won four races on the spin, while Vettel has struggled to keep up with his title rival. The Ferrari man has suffered a host of accidents and mistakes in recent weeks to all-but end his chances of winning a fifth F1 world championship. But Hamilton has now launched a staunch defence of the German, claiming he needs to be shown more respect after his recent struggles. I feel the media need to show a little more respect for Sebastian Lewis Hamilton In an Instagram story, the Brit said: "I feel the media need to show a little more respect for Sebastian. "You simply cannot imagine how hard it is to do what we do at our level, for any athlete at the top of their game that is. "It is expected that being humans we will make mistakes but it is how we get through them that counts." It is an unprecedented move from Hamilton, who is no stranger to falling out with his closest rivals at the business end of a championship season. Lewis Hamilton moved one step closer to winning another F1 title in Japan Lewis Hamilton defended Sebastian Vettel on Instagram The four-time world champion famously clashed with former Mercedes man Nico Rosberg when the two were vying for the main prize of the season back in 2016. Vettel suffered another torrid weekend at Suzuka on Saturday and Sunday. Ferrari misjudged the weather forecast leading to a tyre problem for Vettel and Raikkonen in Q3. Before the former then blew his chances of catching Hamilton at the Japanese circuit on race day, as he attempted an ambitious and slightly reckless overtake manoeuvre on Max Verstappen midway through the race. Lewis Hamilton moved 67 points clear as Sebastian Vettel struggled in Japan Lewis Hamilton has won four races on the spin<doc-sep>
Lewis Hamilton has called on the media to show title rival Sebastian Vettel "a little more respect" following the implosion of the Ferrari driver's championship challenge. Hamilton stands on the brink of a fifth world championship after a remarkable run of six victories from the last seven races. His stellar form in that period has coincided with a string of mistakes from Ferrari and Vettel, most recently at the Japanese Grand Prix, where the team botched its qualifying strategy on Saturday and the driver collided with Max Verstappen on Sunday. Many believe Vettel would be winning the championship -- or at the very least be much closer in the fight -- with more consistency. Until recently Ferrari appeared to have the quickest car on the grid but failed to capitalise. Hamilton has likened this year's championship to a "psychological war" between F1's two leading teams, but has also said he wishes the fight had continued to the final round in Abu Dhabi. On Tuesday morning, the Englishman posted to his Instagram story in defence of Vettel. He wrote: "I feel the media need to show a little more respect for Sebastian. You simply cannot imagine how hard it is to do what we do at our level, for any athlete at the top of their game that is. It is to be expected that being humans we will make mistakes but it is how we get through them that counts." Latest Instagram post from Lewis is in defence of Vettel.... pic.twitter.com/SN6yR8VXQl — Nate Saunders (@natesaundersF1) October 9, 2018 Hamilton can clinch the title at next weekend's U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas if he wins and Vettel finishes third or lower.