By Steven English and Edd Straw Wednesday, October 29th 2008, 19:09 GMT
Ross BrawnHonda team principal Ross Brawn says Lewis Hamilton should follow his instincts in this weekend's championship-deciding Brazilian Grand Prix.
Hamilton leads Ferrari's Felipe Massa by seven points and only needs to finish fifth to seal the title, but Brawn - who guided Michael Schumacher to all seven of his world championships - believes that adopting a conservative approach can be as risky as driving aggressively.
"It's a tricky balance because drivers drive instinctively," Brawn told this week's Autosport magazine. "If they have a distraction where they are thinking they have to be conservative, then it can cause problems.
"Generally, at the beginning of a race, you cannot advise a driver. It's impossible because you start clouding the driver's judgement and you get in more of a mess than you can by leaving it alone.
"If you try to drive defensively in the first corners of the race, it can be to your detriment. Equally, you can't be completely outrageous. In Lewis's case, Japan was a bit of a ragged start and I definitely wouldn't advocate that in Brazil, but it's finding that balance for the part of the race where you have got to let your instincts take over."
