Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari were quick enough to blow Mercedes away in the Hungarian Grand Prix, if qualifying had stayed dry.
But after extending his points lead with his second win in as many weekends, Hamilton rejected a suggestion his victory means he had a couple of fingers on the championship trophy.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “No, I think it’s far too early.“You’ve seen the ups and downs we’ve had from this year, you’ve been ahead by some points and behind some points.
“I don’t believe there’s ever a moment that you’ve got your hands on the title or the trophy. We’ve got a long long way still to go and there’s still nine races. So a lot can happen moving forwards.”
Ferrari’s superior dry weather pace means Mercedes must keep up its development rate, said Hamilton.
“What’s really important is that we continue to keep up the pressure and keep working as we have done until now. There’s nothing we really need to alter. I think our work ethic has been very strong and the team morale is better than ever and the spirit is better than ever.
“We’ve just got to keep it up because as I said, we came here, we came to the last race, they kind of blew us away a little bit in qualifying, they would have done here had it been dry so we welcome the wet races, that’s for sure.”
Hamilton said he is unsure how competitive Mercedes will be when the championship resumes after the summer break.
“I’m not really certain what to expect. We’ve got Singapore coming up; Singapore’s another weak circuit for us so there are a few good ones and a few not so good ones ahead.
“It’s important to capitalise on those difficult weekends such as this and I think that’s really been a key strength of ours this year. We generally have come away with really good points at circuits which have generally been our weaker races.”
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2018 F1 season
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Moi
30th July 2018, 9:16
“They could have blown us away but they didn’t, thats because of how AWESOME I am, if only the fake media would report it more accurately.”
Fritz
30th July 2018, 9:32
He’s more that awsome, dont you get it yet? He’s better than Jesus because he can moonwalk on water bro!
He did it on Saturday, and on Sunday he made the water into champagne!
PS He also got a trophy.
All hale Hamilton MBE
Understeer (@abdelilah)
30th July 2018, 10:09
I can’t see what he was lying about, that’s true on free practice they were miles away from Ferrari, and he said it quite clearly mentioning the rain not his prowess.
Nikki (@nikkit)
30th July 2018, 10:14
@abdelilah
Well, they’re either being sarcastic and aping the attitudes of some Ferrari fans (ie: they claim Lewis is arrogant and full of himself – qualities also possessed by most champions including Vettel, Senna etc) or they just need to get a bit more sleep.
As you say, what Lewis says is fairly accurate. Mercedes were nowhere close in practice and struggled in Q1 and Q2 and the rain tipped the balance in their favor for Q3.
As for the race, Ferrari cost Vettel any potential for a challenge at Hamilton with that poor pitstop that dropped him behind Bottas.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
30th July 2018, 10:30
It wasn’t just the slow pit-stop, but the strategy too. The time he lost with the pit-stop was exactly the amount of time BOT had as advantage when he got out of the pits. So, it would have been a fight for position for sure, but I think BOT had more chances to remain ahead because he had the speed, the exterior of the corner and warmed up tyres. Ferrari simply made the mistake of pitting him when BOT was in his pit window and while his tyres and pace were still more than OK. Should have let him 5 more laps, at least try to increase the advantage over BOT.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
30th July 2018, 20:53
@mg1982 Vettel’s tyres were spent. He was going slower and slower. He could NOT go on for 5 more laps. Instead Vettel should have stopped 1 or 2 laps earlier!
bob (@riptide)
30th July 2018, 10:16
In both the C4 and Sky interviews he put it down to the team sending them out at exactly the right time; or wasn’t the live interviews ‘accurate’ enough for you?
If Hamilton is as bad as you try to convince us he is, you would think you guys would have a plethora of relevant quotes to back up your claims. But even when you try to quote him you can’t help substituting his words with more emotive ones. Or you resort to just making it up, like you have done above. Just think about that for a minute. You make up nonsense and convince yourself Hamilton has said it or done it, put it out there in public, and then get offended by the very garbage you’ve just made up.
Nikki (@nikkit)
30th July 2018, 10:22
@riptide
Give it a little longer and we’ll call what they’re doing, ‘Doing a Trump’
ram
30th July 2018, 17:07
You have Hamilton Derangement Syndrome.
bonbonjai
30th July 2018, 13:53
Mini
Actually, Lewis is right. Just about every one who reads F1, believes that had qualifying been dry, Ferrari would have easily had a front row lock out. Race day, Ferrari would have given Mercedes a beating.
Adam (@rocketpanda)
30th July 2018, 11:20
I don’t really buy this. The Ferrari’s looked very quick throughout practice & in the dry but in the wet Q3 they just weren’t as fast. In the race they didn’t exactly look like they were able to keep pace with the Mercedes either – though that could be Hungary’s characteristics at play. The gap between the Ferrari/Mercedes is a lot narrower than it’s been for a few years but I think the Mercedes is still on average a little better.
toiago (@toiago)
30th July 2018, 11:39
It was always going to be difficult for Ferrari to show their true potential in yesterday’s race, after yielding track position during saturday’s Q session and not jumping any of the Mercedes at the start.
Their whole race, especially Vettel’s, was affected by running behind Bottas at the beginning of the first stint, and after his pitstop. When Bottas pitted, Vettel was already some 8 secondss behind Hamilton. Then, after Hamilton stopped for his tire change, you could see Vettel actually increasing the gap to both Hamilton and Bottas, which was up to 14 and 25 seconds respectively (it could also have been due to traffic, don’t really know). But that gap was then erased due to Vettel encountering a huge amount of traffic, which lost him some 5/6s and the slow pit stop, which put him again behind Bottas, effectively ruining the good work Vettel had done while leading.
Hamilton drove a clean race, but was indubitably aided by the Bottas buffer effect and the benefit of running in clear air for basically the whole GP in a track where position is paramount, which may have flattered Mercedes’ performance a bit.
Franton (@franton)
30th July 2018, 12:45
That section of the race, the times were yo-yo’ing because of traffic. Can’t read too much into it. Keeping the mobile F1 App running while watching the race really helps you see these things. Also lets you see how “accurate” the commentary is too.
mystic one (@mysticus)
1st August 2018, 22:58
@toiago
What are you on about? Hamilton / Vettel Gap didnt change too much for so long… started around 13 secs and after ham pit, he only gained about 1 sec for 5-6 laps then he dropped massively… after 10 laps… before he went for the pit… if he pitted a few laps earlier he would probably catch up to hamilton, but than US tyres wouldnt last at the pace he would need to catch up to Ham… and Catch up not equal to overtake as seen on Bottas… He would likely needed to stop again, but then he would most likely only make it to the tail of Rai at best if he could overcome Ric!
Sunday weather effected them as much as mercs were effected… they didnt run massively faster as were expected… Vettel got his best with his strategy…
Martin
30th July 2018, 12:48
And I don’t buy this. Kimi said himself he would have been comfortably on pole if not for traffic. It wasn’t that the Ferrari’s weren’t quick in Q3, it was just Vettel wasn’t quick.
Ferrari clearly have the better car at the moment and have done for the last 3 races.
Big Joe
30th July 2018, 14:07
Yeah both cars have destroyed Bottas with that superiority..oh wait…
Alonso or either Red Bull drive would be leading the championship in the Merc.
‘sub-par’ Lewis will take Merc down like he did McLaren when his luck runs out.
Martin
30th July 2018, 14:25
What are you ranting about? Nothing I said in my post wasn’t 100% fact. Ferrari had the car for a 1-2 in qualifying and didn’t get it, not sure what you are going on about but please feel free to continue your incoherent ranting.
Fritz
30th July 2018, 14:41
This sounds like a robot script? The inability to grasp relevant factual circumstance and the ability to add irrelevant alternative facts.
Is Big Joe a name for an American alt right script program made by The Russians?
What I wrote makes more sense than Big Joe.
mystic one (@mysticus)
1st August 2018, 23:09
@Martin was anything you said was a fact or not decide pls!
Also Ferrari “supposed” to have a car for possible 1-2, that is probability not a bloody fact! They had a car that had the “high chance/probability” of 1-2 in quali results. What is fact is they were beaten fair and square, no ifs-buts!
If you are fast you are fast no matter. If you dont know how to drive or adapt in changing conditions, you are not fast, you just beg for conditions to suit you…
Does it mean Ferraris are slow? No they are capable cars when the conditions are right under skillful drivers…
Understeer (@abdelilah)
30th July 2018, 14:22
I think Vettel wasn’t quick enough in dump condition, he was simply obliterated by the much older Kimi (who by the way suffered traffic and was sent before Vettel).
MG1982 (@mg1982)
30th July 2018, 15:47
In case you don’t know, these days there’s a big difference between Quali trim and Race trim. VET set the fastest lap ever at Hungaroring, yet in the race they were still 1sec slower than Schumacher’s 2004 race lap record. Some others noticed it from the beginning of the season that Mercedes seems to have the better car in race trim, although marginally. Yesterday, there was nowhere to be seen that superior straight line speed Ferrari is supposed to have. Then, the way HAM stormed through the field in Germany did not look like a 2nd best car.
grat
30th July 2018, 16:42
Not so much– the cars are technically in “parc ferme” condition as soon as qualifying begins, and the teams aren’t allowed to make major changes from then until the end of the race without taking major penalties. They can make minor adjustment changes, and tire pressure changes, and that’s about it (barring an announcement of “Change of climatic conditions” by Whiting).
Martin
30th July 2018, 17:11
In case you don’t know, that’s tyre management and fuel loads, not that I would expect you of all people to have even an ounce of F1 knowledge.
mystic one (@mysticus)
2nd August 2018, 0:33
In case you don’t know, that’s tyre management and fuel loads has always been challenge not just this era, it is more focused now due to refueling ban…
Not that I would expect you of all the tiffosos to have even an ounce of F1 comprehension…
Jon (@johns23)
31st July 2018, 3:41
I would say Ferrari’s advantage is actually a lot more than it ever has been. No way Merc is the better car at the moment
Ajaxn
2nd August 2018, 21:19
Or could it be that driving in the wet is a better test of the driver’s skill, than it is a test of the car’s design?
So whilst Ferrari may have the better car, the better driver is undoubtedly Hamilton.
Mick Harrold (@mickharrold)
30th July 2018, 11:37
Ohh Hamilton. You are good. Really good. So stop with the self promotion. Let your driving do your talking.
bonbonjai
30th July 2018, 13:58
Mike Harrold
When his driving does the talking, it is because he is in the best car (not), when he makes and accurate comments aboit the race he just won, he is arrogant. There’s no pleasing some people.
YellowSubmarine
30th July 2018, 21:29
And if he says nothing…he’s arrogant and rude and fails to appreciate the platform he has. If he says anything…he’s arrogant and rude and fails to appreciate….you get the drift.
With Hamilton, it seems, the average modern-day F1 fan abandons all sense: whatever Hamilton says or does is not acceptable.
Jason
1st August 2018, 17:24
:D
So True
BrawnGP (@brawngp)
30th July 2018, 11:37
#blessed
Big Joe
30th July 2018, 14:01
but Lewis, Riccairdo and Verstappen have both blown you away in slower cars and not just this season.
Probably why you vetoed Dan in your recent contract renewel that held up the driver market.
You should be praying Honda don’t come good next year not playing silly mind games with the Italian self-defeaters.
Martin
30th July 2018, 14:10
He’s not playing mind games he’s just telling the truth. As for the Danny veto, proof?
AMG44 (@amg44)
30th July 2018, 15:48
All these people hyping Ricciardo be thankful he is not in the same car as Hamilton. He is getting consistently outpaced by mistake-prone and not-at-his-prime Max. Just in the last race he didnt make it into Q3. Ric is a nice entertaining driver but he is no Hamilton or Alonso. He got beat over a season by the guy who got fired mid-season by Redbull. Beating Hamilton, a 4 times WC at-his-prime over a season is just difficult (just ask Vettel driving a superior Ferrari who should be leading this championship by some margin).
Martin
30th July 2018, 14:11
He’s not playing mind games he’s just telling the truth. As for the Danny veto, proof?
Martin
30th July 2018, 14:11
Hooray for dodgy internet connections \o/
mystic one (@mysticus)
2nd August 2018, 0:40
He is clearly mocking them back as Vettel has been doing past few weeks ago.. As for Danny, I agree, too much rubbish said… Ham said he doesnt mind racing against anyone as long as given equal terms… Alo didnt like being equal, and he threw all his toys out of the pram… And black mailed the team when things didnt go his way… Yet he didnt know anything about crashgate at renault…
But people have mouth, and like to talk when the field is empty… Hamilton does the talk on track while everyone is all there to see… thats the difference between talkers and doers…
Bebana
30th July 2018, 14:35
Toto Wolff is playing main role in f1, not Lewis. Forget his prestaged words!! Funny!!
1. Wolff is always complaining that Ferrari is having stronger power units
with illegal components since Ferrari started winning on tracks that better suit Merz.
BUT it is not true. Merz is still stronger than Ferrari and only Merz is “amphibious”.
They are hiding their illegal jobs by throwing accusations to Italians.
Ferrari is good on dry, but if it is too good and to that extent advanced, Ferrari should fly, according to Toto. But Vettel did not overtake Bottas for such long time yesterday.
2. Valteri Bottas exists to make accidents wherever is needed. He wants to kick out Vettel from the race and secure Lewis position number one AT ANY COST. Toto will be first to celebrate. Before Lewis . Lewis is not having such type of personality. He has spent whole his f1 life in highly competitive brands and that is the reason for his success.
He is not such impecable driver. This is temporary success. Like during Rosberg time.
As long as Bottas is strong & protective and serves as Lewis Bodyguard, Lewis can and will win.
The same moment Bottas starts showing sorrowfulnes, he can stay without contract and bread or pretend that he is doing zero for Lewis. And Bottas will be racer only in his contract on the paper but for all of us he is simply bodyguard.
Ed
30th July 2018, 17:00
You know why Hamilton has spent his whole career in high competitive brands?
Because he DELIVERS what they want.
11 straight years of strong showings. Why wouldnt they sign him?
If he starts to underperform on some point, the best teams won’t look for him anymore. It’s how it works, you know.
I really don’t like this excuse of the car to dismiss a driver. Hamilton is approaching his win number 70, but he is not leggit because he didn’t drag the worst car of the field to a 12th place.
Because that’s what people really cares about, right? Wrong.
anon-e moss
30th July 2018, 18:28
Lewis had the guts to leave Mclaren. Everyone thought he was mad at the time. He made a wise choice. He is in a winning car because he put himself there by using judgment. Alonso left Ferrari and went to Mclaren for reasons unknown. He told everyone that it would make sense later. Years later and that move was shown to be stupid. The Red team have a great car, the Orange team has a lemon. The point I’m making is you can’t blame the driver for being in a fast car and winning. The driver chooses and takes a chance. Sometimes it works (Lewis, Seb) other times it doesn’t Alonso. More power to Hamilton for delivering and getting the job done and to Seb. The History and record books don’t lie.
toiago (@toiago)
30th July 2018, 19:09
That’s not really fair, is it? In the 5 years that Alonso spent at Ferrari not a single time did they give him a decent car, maybe with the exception of the F10, and even then it could be argued that both the Mclaren and the Red Bull were better overall that year. And it continually got worse, the low being the first year of the hybrid engines, when the Ferrari was an absolute disaster (“the vacuum cleaner” was the nickname). I too would’ve become frustrated with the continued incompetence that Ferrari showed during those years. And there were absolutely no signs that they would’ve developed the way they did afterwards, and bear in mind that the 2 following years after his departure it was same old same old.
Ed
30th July 2018, 20:02
@toiago
agreed. Alonso had to do something at that point. Ferrari was trailing behind Red Bull badly on the aero side and pushed hard for the new regulations of 2014. And they blew it beautifully once again.
Ferrari PU was by far the weakest that year. What could he expect? He put a bet on Honda and it was disaster, but for Alonso, being runner up, which is the best thing Vettel achieved there yet, doesn’t cut it. He did it twice on his time there. Nobody cares if he does it again. He wants do be WDC. And since he left Ferrari, the only place he could do it was Mercedes. And he won’t ever have a seat there.
Bebana
31st July 2018, 6:40
××××You know why Hamilton has spent his whole career in high××××
No, Niki Lauda begged lewis to join Merz and promised him success in 2014 because he knew what he had in his garage…
Niki Laude KICKED OUT Michael Schumacher and put brit in Michael’s car 2014 about which Michael was talking much earlier as his winning car already.. this was Michael’s car. Stolen by Niki and Lewis.
That is the tragedy, my dear friends. Poor souls. Who loves stealers?
But, believe me, nothing bright can be in front of them.
Only good things can bring positive reinforcement…..
Ed
31st July 2018, 14:15
Michael couldnt even beat nico but that was his winning car? How come?
Most likely nico’s winning car, no?
Bebana
2nd August 2018, 12:01
“Michael couldnt even beat nico but that was his winning car? How come?
Most likely nico’s winning car”
Please, do not mix a rabid Nico with the greatest achiever in f1 ever…
anon-e moss
31st July 2018, 18:38
Did Niki put a gun to Lewis’ head or threaten to kill his dog? No. Lewis made choice, he gambled. Don’t be butt hurt because Hamilton is a success. As pointed out to you, that Merc he ‘stole’ was not a winning car for MSC. Keep making crap up. It makes a good after bowel movement read.
Bebana
7th August 2018, 17:44
Do not mix apples and oranges, please!
Fritz
30th July 2018, 14:51
The rain divides the men from the boys, it’s the greatest equalizer we’ve ever had in Formula 1, and on Sunday Lewis was the man.
People who didn’t show whom I feel are overhyped. Everybody who didn’t have a mechanical problem had a chance to prove their worth on Saturday. One guy proved it once again.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
30th July 2018, 15:51
Great equalizer indeed, that’s why Leclerc missed the PP?!
john
30th July 2018, 16:25
it was simply better quali by Merc, solid start and well played with Bottas. Vet could overcut Bot but got held by traffic and missed pitwindow with slightly slower tyrechange.
anon
30th July 2018, 17:50
Standard for Hammy.
Play down his chances, talk down his machinery, talk up the opposition’s machinery.
Bebana
30th July 2018, 23:36
This is the best summary I have ever read..
Stan
31st July 2018, 0:00
+1000
Martin
31st July 2018, 9:04
Standard for Hammy.
Tell the truth, get slated for it.
Ed
30th July 2018, 20:10
Mercedes played the cards right and were lucky with the weather.
Cuz by the way things were going on friday, they would struggle bad against Ferrari and Red Bull.
Ferrari seemed faster on sunday but not as it did on friday as the weather was cooler.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
30th July 2018, 20:17
Ferrari had been much faster all weekend. Ferrari/Vettel’s blunder with his pit stop meant he needlessly ended up behind Bottas, so we never saw Ferrari’s true pace.
It’s funny how Ferrari fans now pretend the Mercedes was faster. Just think back to how you thought the weekend was going to end before qualifying. I’m pretty sure you were dreaming of a Ferrari 1-2 and Hamilton somewhere stuck between the Red Bulls. That’s what the weekend was shaping up too looking at the practice sessions.
But then the Ferrari drivers faltered in qualifying and Vettel stopped too late (ending up behind Bottas). All in all gifting Hamilton an easy win which he never would have gotten otherwise.
It’s a bit like saying after Singapore 2017 that Mercedes was much faster.
Jon (@johns23)
31st July 2018, 3:48
I feel Ferrari need to start capitalising with their car speed over Mercedes at the moment, or it will be too little to late for Vettel this year. They had Germany as a shoe-in and then looked like another shoe-in for Hungry until the wet weather. Going to be fascinating second half of the year.
Manas
31st July 2018, 17:17
Germany and Hungary were two best opportunities for Ferrari to capitalize on merc.but they screwed it , stumbled in rain.with a faster car they can’t outqualify Merc in Hungary and Vettel himself got outqualified by Kimi who did it last in Australia ,ie 10 races before.Ferrari can easily win those two races but they binned it.Its not mercs luck they mastered the situations perfectly with driver ability and and good strategy.
Bebana
1st August 2018, 12:56
Aaah, I am hardly waiting for next Ferrari victory…I see Ferrari on the throne already….they deserve it if there is still correctness in the world
The first part of the road seems very rough and tough.
Ferrari’s Smooth Sailing in the second part of year with turning the wheel of Fortune in Ferrari’s direction is emerging with justness…