Hamilton brushes off Massa feud

While admitting yesterday in South Korea that he has to do a better job than he has been of late, Lewis Hamilton made it clear he was not worrying about the feud with his former friendly rival Felipe Massa, with whom he has now clashed on four occasions this year. Their latest spats came in the last two races, in Singapore and Japan, and left Massa calling for the FIA to take action against the man who beat him to the 2008 world championship.

"The situation has not been great for some time now, but I think I've always had respect for Felipe and I still do today regardless of the negative comments that he is coming out with," Hamilton said. "It's easy in this sport when you are competitive and in the heat of the moment to say things you don't mean.

"Whether or not he does mean them, I have tried to show respect and particularly in the last race... I'm really sorry for that, I really didn't see him, and I saw the replay: he was quite far up alongside me, out of my mirrors and I couldn't see anything, so by the time I saw him it was too late."

Massa said he had nothing else to say about his rival. "I saw many mistakes from [Hamilton], and that is it," said the Ferrari driver. "I tried to speak to him, he didn't want it, and to be honest I don't care anymore. I will not go and speak to him. I will carry on doing my job."