Hamilton refusing to rise to red rags from Red Bull

LEWIS HAMILTON is adamant Red Bull do not have him rattled despite their current domination of Formula One.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner suggested this week Hamilton had resorted to “gamesmanship” and “distraction tactics” given his recent remarks relating to the Milton Keynes marque.

Prior to the season Hamilton said Red Bull were a “drinks manufacturer” lacking the heritage of McLaren and Ferrari.

Then after finishing runner-up to Vettel in the season-opening race in Australia 12 days ago, Hamilton claimed Fernando Alonso remained his primary rival.

That appeared dismissive of Vettel who last year wrestled from the Briton the honour of being F1’s youngest world champion.

With the war of words intensifying between the two, Hamilton said: “I don’t think I’ve ever been rattled. I certainly don’t remember at least a time when I’ve been rattled, so I would have to say ‘no, that’s not the case’ to that one”.

Despite Hamilton’s assertions to the contrary that he intends to stay at McLaren, speculation linking the 26-year-old with a move to Red Bull refuses to go away.

Horner again played down the talk but Hamilton sees no reason why he and Vettel, who recently signed a new deal with Red Bull through to the end of 2014, could not join forces in the future.

“You saw me and Fernando, we were very competitive, and look at me and Jenson, proving world champions can definitely race together as long as there is quality in the team,” added Hamilton.

Following yesterday’s practice sessions ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix tomorrow, Hamilton took another swipe at Red Bull, claiming the team were pulling the wool over people’s eyes with regard to their true pace.

Button and Hamilton sandwiched Mark Webber and Vettel; the quartet separated by just 0.214secs, suggesting they could be a match for the world champions.

However, Red Bull have become renowned for never running at full throttle on a Friday before showing their hand in qualifying on a Saturday.

Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championship

1.Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault 25

2.Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes 18

3.Vitaly Petrov, Renault 15

4.Fernando Alonso, Ferrari 12

5.Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault 10

6.Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes 8

7.Felipe Massa, Ferrari 6

8.Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari 4

9.Adrian Sutil, Force India-Mercedes 2

10.Paul Di Resta, Force India-Mercedes 1