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Hamilton feels for fans amid Vettel dominance

ESPN Staff
October 7, 2013 « Franchitti and spectators injured in IndyCar crash | McLaren promises 'headline-grabbing' signings to technical team »
Lewis Hamilton: "I remember the period of time when Michael Schumacher was winning" © Getty Images
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Lewis Hamilton says he feels sorry for fans as Sebastian Vettel marches, seemingly unrivalled, to a fourth consecutive world championship.

Vettel is now 77 points clear of second-place Fernando Alonso in the drivers' championship and has won the last four races with relative ease. His success has drawn parallels with Michael Schumacher's period of domination in the early 2000s, when he won five consecutive titles between 2000 and 2004, and induced a degree of apathy among fans.

"He has won already unless he doesn't finish the rest of the races, and even if he doesn't he has probably still won it," Hamilton said of Vettel while speaking to British newspapers in Korea. "Personally I feel for the fans because I remember the period of time when Michael Schumacher was winning.

"I remember waking up in the morning to watch the start of the race and then going to sleep, and then waking up when it ended because I already knew what would happen. I am pretty sure a lot of people were doing that today."

Vettel can wrap the title up this weekend in Japan if he wins the race and Fernando Alonso finishes ninth or lower.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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