Hamilton won’t let transfer talk rumours change focus on winning F1 championship

London: McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton has claimed he is not affected by the rumours and rubbish swirling around his contract negotiations, and added he is completely focused on winning the Formula One driver’s championship for the second time in his career.

Hamilton, whose deal with McLaren runs out at the end of the season, is at the centre of a storm of speculation that he is set to take Michael Schumacher’s place at Mercedes. The 2008 world champion kept everyone guessing after he won the Italian Grand Prix and on Sunday, during a promotional visit to Mumbai, he said he was yet to sign a contract with any team. “I don’t have a timeline. My focus is on trying to win this world championship,” the Daily Mail quoted Hamilton, as saying. “Of course, I do have to have those things sorted out but I do have people in the background working on those contract negotiations. There’s a lot of speculation, there’s a lot of stories that aren’t true,” he added. “I think we’re all wise enough to understand that people write things and that what is written is not necessarily what is true. I think the most important thing is that I’m 100 percent focused on winning with this team and taking them forward,” he said. Hamilton added: “I’ve been with the team since I was 13 and we’ve worked so hard since 2009 to try and win this championship and hopefully, finally, we’re in the position where we can," added the 27-year-old Briton. So the most important thing is that I do not get distracted by all the rubbish that’s been around.” ANI