Zoom A five-point lead with two races to go

Former triple World Champion Niki Lauda, usually an admirer of the current championship leader, said after Fuji that he is "disappointed" with Lewis Hamilton.

Briton Hamilton, 23, escaped the Japanese Grand Prix with a slightly diminished five-point advantage over Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

But the McLaren driver's run to just twelfth place rekindled memories of last season, when he dramatically lost a huge points advantage at the final two races.

"I am disappointed with Lewis," Lauda told N-TV.de. "He threw away the championship last year in the same way -- with absolutely unnecessary risks."

The Austrian legend is presumably referring to the first corner incident in Japan, for which Hamilton was penalised after boldly trying to re-pass Kimi Raikkonen and flat-spotting his tyres to the canvas.

Hamilton was later tapped into a spin when trying to pass title rival Felipe Massa, who was penalised for the collision.

"On a day when he needed to stay out of trouble, he clashed with not one Ferrari but both," wrote the correspondent for the British newspaper The Mirror.

His on-track habits aside, Hamilton is also commonly criticised for his brash public image.

Even the Briton on Monday admitted that there are plenty of unfavourable quotes attributed to him doing the rounds at present.

He said: "For sure, it's not easy to always say or do the right thing, and when you're constantly being scrutinised it can be particularly difficult."

© CAPSIS International
Source: GMM