WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- F1 US Grand Prix pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton said he's not expecting to win the yearending title in Austin on Sunday, adding that he expects the battle for the 2017 drivers' crown to go down to the wire.
The Mercedes star, who claimed the pole position in Saturday's qualifying, entered the weekend 59 points clear of Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel in the standings, and will seal a fourth world title if he claims victory and the German finishes the race sixth or lower.
However, with Vettel starting alongside him on the front row and expected to mount a serious challenge for victory, Hamilton said the thought of clinching the crown is not on his agenda.
"It's a bit like a game of chess," the Briton said. "Obviously right now it's checkmate but there's still a long, long way to go," said Hamilton.
"There's still a hundred points available. Sebastian and his team are going to be working as hard as they can, as are we. Who knows? It's going to go to the wire I still think.
"In the next four races, I think Ferrari is going to give it a great shot and I'm going to do my utmost to try and defend.
"I want to win these races, that's what I'm working towards. In winning races, points come and championships are won so that's what I'm here to do.
For Vettel, the four times F1 winner, will push hard for this season's title.
"I think we have to win and then we see what happens. Obviously we are not in the position that we would like to be, but still we have a chance, so we go for that and it's pretty straightforward. And I don't see why the next four races we shouldn't have the package to win. So we start tomorrow."
Vettel has endured a far from ideal weekend so far with problems in running his free practice, but he felt upbeat about the future competitions.
"As the season progresses everybody gets better in terms of reading the sessions, understanding the tyres so I don't think we're in any weaker position. It would have been nice to do more laps but the little laps that I had this morning were fine," said Vettel.
