Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, Singapore, 2018

Hamilton: Mercedes haven’t “lucked in” with Ferrari’s setbacks

2018 Singapore Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton says he doesn’t believe Mercedes have “lucked in” with Ferrari’s recent setbacks.

The Mercedes driver has pulled out a 40-point lead over Sebastian Vettel in the championship fight by winning four of the last five races. Vettel has encountered problems such as spinning after contact in the Italian Grand Prix and dropping behind Max Verstappen during today’s race.

But Hamilton doesn’t believe this has been a case of fortune favouring Mercedes.

“I don’t see it as we’ve ‘lucked in’,” he said. “When Vettel hit the wall the other day [Friday] and damaged the car and lost running on the track, that’s not us ‘lucking in’.

“I take a lot of pride in making sure that I don’t put myself in those positions and I know I’ve got a the team relying on me as his team’s relying on him and Kimi. There’s a lot of pressure on us as drivers and athletes. There’s only small percentages you get wrong and it has bigger ramifications.”

The gains Mercedes have made in recent races have been largely down to understanding their car better rather than improving it, said Hamilton.

“We haven’t brought any upgrades. We brought an upgrade to Monza, we didn’t bring an upgrade here. But naturally we’re always working on our understanding on a technical side to try and improve. For example ride height, a few little things we’re just tweaking and trying to maximise from my understanding of the races.

“I think ultimately we are over-delivering. Our car’s true pace is 100 and we’re pulling out 102. That’s an awesome, feeling.

“If you could see I just had this meeting with the guys, you could just see the energy with everyone. it’s really, for me, I find it really inspiring. Considering I’ve been with the guys for six years they could be like ‘let’s get over and done with it, we’ve won tons of races’ but they’re not.

“I said ‘have you got any questions for me’, because I encourage them to ask questions after a debrief and they dig deep and they find questions and so the rapport I think more than ever the communication has really been an improvement this year.”

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9 comments on “Hamilton: Mercedes haven’t “lucked in” with Ferrari’s setbacks”

  1. I think i can say with a good amount of confidence

    2018 FIA Formula One World Drivers Champion–Lewis Hamilton !!

    I think Vettel lost the title at Hockenheim. Ferrari look flustered. Mercedes have a flawless driver whose focus is admirable.
    Looking forward to some good racing action in the next six…

    1. Too early one engine problem like Malaysia 2016, and Vettel in game again.

      1. @thunder1115
        What are the odds mate ? I don’t see Lewis and co taking a gamble anymore. They may choose to go defensive with their upgrades. Beyond all, Mercedes have delivered the goods very well. Austria seems like an aberration now. All Lewis has to do now, is maintain the same level of focus he currently has.
        One unavoidable threat could be Lewis becoming a passenger in a first lap first corner incident. But it applies to most drivers.

    2. @webtel @thunder1115 Also, don’t forget that he won the Hungarian GP and no driver has won both that race as well as the WDC the same season since 2005.

      1. I know, the last was MSC in 2004.

        1. Hamilton has won enough already to defy certain odds, as did Schumacher.

    3. Remember when the title was over back in Canada because Hamilton did poorly on a track he does great at? I remember.

  2. Fikri Harish (@)
    17th September 2018, 11:30

    It’s similar to last year when just after the summer break, Hamilton managed to kick himself into another gear and doesn’t slow down until he had the title more or less in the bag.
    I mean, that pole lap was indeed magic. I sometimes get that reaction when I managed to string together a great lap in Assetto Corsa. And that’s just for a video game.
    But doing that in a real-life setting in Singapore’s combination of hot and humid with the pressure of being the first man to reach 5 WDC since Schumacher on your shoulders? Hamilton has been simply fantastic these past two years.

  3. Every driver who has won the Italian GP since 2013 have gone on to win the championship. There’s a stat to counter another

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