UNITED KINGDOM: MOTOR RACING - Three time World Champion Jackie Stewart says Lewis Hamilton needs to finish the race rather then win it

Three time World Champion Jackie Stewart says Lewis Hamilton needs to finish the race rather then win it and adds fuel to Mosley war of words. Lewis Hamilton must forget about winning Sunday's title-deciding Brazilian Grand Prix and concentrate on taking the bigger prize of the Formula One championship, according to Jackie Stewart. "What he has to do is finish the race, more than win it," the 68-year-old told Reuters on Monday (October 15) in an interview at a signing for his Autobiography "Winning is Not Enough". Stirling Moss once called Stewart "the first of the modern-style drivers, a man who drove fast enough to win but at the slowest possible speed" and the Scot advocated a tactical approach to what will be a three-way showdown at Interlagos. Hamilton, a 22-year-old sensation in his rookie season, leads Spanish team mate and double world champion Fernando Alonso by four points with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen a further three behind. Hamilton needs finish only second to take the title and could even finish far lower than that and still be champion if his rivals slip up. He might have sealed his place in history already as the first rookie champion, as well as the youngest, at the previous race in China but skidded out on worn tyres while entering the pit lane for his second stop. "It's a great temptation for a young driver, particularly as good as Lewis is, to say 'No, I'm going to go out and win the race,'" said Stewart. "Had he taken that other view in China...he would be world champion now. So it's not always important just to win. "It's success that you are after. World championships are about winning but they are also about success and achieving. He's got to get through the first corner, then finish the race. He's got a lot on his plate." Stewart said he had no fear of Hamilton, who he felt was better prepared than any of Britain's recent champions or the likes of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, being unready. "Lewis Hamilton is capable of winning the world championship, no doubt, and he's the best young driver I have ever seen enter the sport," said Stewart. "But the preparation for Brazil is something that nobody could actually coach him on, without having a long programme of preparation. "At the end of the day it will be down to his own intellect to deal with in the most appropriate fashion." Triple world champion Jackie Stewart also criticised Formula One's governing body for what he saw as meddling in McLaren's preparations for Brazilian Grand Prix. The Scot said he could not understand the logic of appointing a special scrutineer to ensure championship leader Lewis Hamilton received no advantage over Spanish team mate Fernando Alonso. "This is not a police state," Stewart said. "Are we to be told by Big Brother how those people have to function?," he added. "I don't think it is the governing body's job to interfere with private enterprise and how somebody runs their company. That is not correct." The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said last week that it was appointing a special scrutineer after the head of the Spanish federation expressed concern about the situation. Stewart and FIA President Max Mosley have been engaged in a war of words since the Scot raised concerns about a 'witch hunt' in relation to the governing body's handling of a spying controversy involving McLaren and Ferrari. McLaren were fined a record 100 million U.S. dollars and stripped of their points in the constructors' championship over that affair, handing the title to Ferrari. "I think the governing body has to be very careful how it goes about its business...the manner in which many elements have been dealt with this year I don't think is appropriate," said Stewart. He also suggested the FIA could do with a change at the top. "I think Max Mosley has probably done a very good job for some 16 years but maybe it's time for a change," he said.

ITN Source | October 16, 2007

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