Our target is to win the World title

We are on the home stretch now. In Singapore, we have the first of the flyaway races that round off the season. It doesn’t start until 8 pm local time and takes place entirely under floodlights, giving it a unique character and a special atmosphere since it is the only night race on the Formula One calendar.

For us drivers, the unfamiliar schedule means that we don’t attempt to adjust to the local time zone but continue working to the European clock. In practice, this means that I sleep until around two o clock in the afternoon and don’t go to bed until four or five in the morning.

So before the weekend, you’re liable to bump into one of the other drivers in the hotel bar round about midnight though obviously drinking something non-alcoholic! When I arrived in the paddock here in Singapore this Thursday, the buzz was similar to the world championship finale last year in Abu Dhabi.

The journalists were highly agitated and were asking me and the other drivers whether I would be wrapping up the title here ahead of time. For me, it’s important that we don’t get swept up in this hysteria and that we just focus on doing what we are capable of.

We’re not going to allow ourselves to be put under pressure. Our target at the start of the season was simply to win the world title, not to have it in the bag by the time we left Singapore. If the other drivers insist on referring to me as the world champion  which is what they were doing at the official FIA press conference on Thursday‚ I am going to block it out.

Even so, I am obviously pleased when such an experienced driver as twice ex-champion Fernando Alonso singles me out for praise at his press conference. He is one of the drivers in Formula One that I respect most. To hear that you are respected in turn really means a lot.

There is a danger that you get out of your rhythm, and then your results will start to suffer. ‘If’s’ and ‘buts’ have no place in Formula One, we haven’t won anything yet this season. We are certainly well-placed, but it isn’t over till it’s over. We have to take each race as it comes, starting with Singapore.

I am looking forward to this street circuit; it’s one of the most difficult venues for us drivers, and we should see a good race. All the same, let’s wait and see.