Lewis Hamilton describes the 25 point deficit to Sebastian Vettel in the drivers championship as ‘a bloody long way’ but insists it’s ‘not impossible to close’.
After a difficult weekend in which he was eliminated in Q2 on Saturday and finished in seventh place on Sunday, Hamilton says that he is aware of the sizeable lead Sebastian Vettel has opened up in the standings.
“The gap’s big, for sure, but not impossible to close,” says Hamilton. “I come away from what I would say is one of the most difficult weekends I’ve had for a while, still lots of positives to take away from it and I just let my guys know that. We never give up. We keep going.”
Despite the disappointing result, Hamilton says he is still happy to have come through to a seventh place finish.
“I feel really good. I feel really positive. I feel really happy,” says Hamilton.
“I came into today obviously a lot further back and I had no idea what was going to happen. The beginning of the race was quite boring, but when I got into that clear air, I had a lot of fun. The team had said in the strategy meeting this morning that tenth was the best I could get – which really would’ve sucked.”
Hamilton took advantage of a later pit stop and the clear air that it provided to jump ahead of a number of drivers into seventh place where he ultimately finished.
“I’m really happy that I was able to leapfrog those guys at the pitstop, Hamilton says. “You can’t overtake on the track.
It was hard to close up to where I was coming into this weekend. Twenty-five points is a bloody long way, but I’ve got some incredible support here and back home and all over.
“The team are going to work as hard as they can to make sure that we’re ahead of the Ferraris and I’m going to work as hard as I can to make sure that a weekend like this is not repeated. At Montreal, we’re seriously going to have to bring it there.”
Haribo
28th May 2017, 16:52
Almost feels like some still haven’t got their head around the current points system after seven years, I wouldn’t call a 25 point deficit after six races a “bloody long” gap.
However, my early prediction is that Vettel might pull away and win the championship early, he’s finished in the top two in every race with no indiction that his run may end, when Vettel is happy with the car he is frighteningly consistent.
Franton (@franton)
28th May 2017, 17:26
Yeah assuming no equipment failures, no accidents and having four utterly perfect races in a row.
I’d like to know what F1 you’ve been watching. I’ve never seen that since watching F1 since the 80’s.
What Mercedes need to do is get on top of their issue(s) (suspension?) quick. That way we can have a decent scrap for the titles vs watching one man run away with it. Yet again.
Haribo
28th May 2017, 18:17
Alonso was very consistent in 2005 whilst Raikkonen kept dropping big points from time-to-time, Alonso won the title with two races to spare. Hamilton will indeed take the fight to Vettel, but if he continues to drop big points with Vettel remaining consistent then the championship will go to Vettel.
Kgn11
29th May 2017, 7:47
“Yeah assuming no equipment failures, no accidents and having four utterly perfect races in a row.”
You mean like from China to Spain in 2014? Or how about the 4 races he won in July?
petebaldwin (@)
28th May 2017, 19:26
It’s a decent gap when you are in the only competitive car like the last 3 seasons but now that Mercedes have some competition, 25 points isn’t much at all. This was a race where Mercedes had to rely more on their chassis rather than their engine but there are plenty of races left where their engines should guarantee an easy 1-2.
JCost (@jcost)
31st May 2017, 8:09
Indeed. What Lewis needs is consecutive races wins (2 or 3) and the deficit will be small again.
@F1-liners (@f1-liners)
28th May 2017, 16:56
I wouldn’t worry too much about a 25pts gap; 4 wins and you’re guaranteed ahead.
He should be more worried about Vettel seeming to be on top of his game every weekend and Hamilton seriously struggling during 2/6 races this year.
ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
28th May 2017, 17:00
This article photo and previous article about “Vettel lead Ferrari One-two” photo are incredibly similar! I almost think it was a montage!
kanan
28th May 2017, 17:19
Luckily for him (and unlucky for Vettel), Ferrari does seem to have some reliability problems that can cost them a good chunk of points.
Michael Brown (@)
28th May 2017, 18:47
I think Vettel might have himself a bad qualifying or an engine failure at least once in the year too.
Virolet
28th May 2017, 20:34
25 points give the option in getting 2 engine penalties in spa and monza…and still get some points. That leaves Ferrari with 2 fresh engines
Markp
28th May 2017, 21:19
But out of Merc ad Ferrari so far only Merc have blown an engine in a race.
ThisNoNameID2 (@patienceandtime)
28th May 2017, 18:29
Pirelli is messing with the tyre pressure to benefit Ferrari.
Markp
28th May 2017, 21:22
Pirelli must be redressing the balance then since Mercs dodgy illegal tyre test just before they became dominant. Rumours are Pirelli are now giving the right pressures to all after Merc gave false info to keep pressures artificially high to their advantage. Here’s hoping RB become 2 nd best pushing Merc to 3rd best.
GtisBetter (@)
28th May 2017, 21:42
they lowered the minimum psi right? I don’t see how that relates to the mercedes tyre temp problem.
Ru Chern (@)
29th May 2017, 5:07
What complete nonsense is this?