LAS VEGAS, Nevada, CMC – Lewis Hamilton mentioned on Wednesday that he wanted a miracle within the season’s remaining two Components 1 races to overhaul Sergio Perez for second within the drivers’ championship.
With 52 factors up for grabs between this weekend on the Las Vegas Grand Prix in america and subsequent weekend on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix within the United Arab Emirates, the 2 drivers might have interaction in a scrap to determine the runner-up to Crimson Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands.
Solely 32 factors separate second-placed Perez, Verstappen’s Crimson Bull teammate, and third-placed Hamilton, the 38-year-old British race automobile driver with Grenadian heritage, who dominated out any likelihood of him significantly difficult his Mexican rival.
“He’s too distant now, truthfully,” Hamilton mentioned. “30 factors in two races, he must have two disasters, and I must be second. Nevertheless it doesn’t make a distinction if we’re second or third.
“We nonetheless had a tremendous 12 months, given the automobile that we’ve had. We by no means thought we might be preventing for second within the constructors’ championship and knocking on the door of probably the most dominant automobile, most likely, of our period.”
Coincidentally, there’s additionally a combat for the runner-up spot within the constructors’ championship, with Mercedes, Hamilton’s workforce, holding a 20-point benefit over Ferrari forward of the ultimate two races.
The final two years have been very difficult for Mercedes, they usually haven’t gained a Grand Prix for 2 years, however Hamilton mentioned his sense of goal stored him motivated in the course of the interval and the possibility to win an unprecedented eighth world title.
“Rising up, I gained lots,” he mentioned. “I at all times had not less than one win annually. The final two years have been a fantastic expertise to be preventing with the workforce. We have been successful for a very long time, and while you win for thus lengthy, all of us get complacent and take issues with no consideration.
“This has been a wonderful time for us to drag again, have our ft on the bottom, begin again up, and dig deep. And for me, it’s at all times realizing we will enhance every day. I do know I could be fitter. I do know I can do extra. I could be extra environment friendly with my work with my time.
Hamilton added: “I’ve days the place I’m like, I don’t need to work out, this sucks. However it’s a must to maintain pushing. It’s important to maintain getting up. We’re not preventing for a world championship proper this second. The stress is that as you age, it will get tougher to coach. It’s tougher to remain match. It’s managing your time. It’s the way you talk with a workforce of individuals and maintain all of them targeted.
“And, the stress proper now’s to catch as much as Crimson Bull, the workforce we’re attempting to beat. Coming again in February (subsequent 12 months) and getting within the automobile, I’ll instantly know whether or not it’s a automobile that we will combat with. That’s at all times a nervous expertise for everyone.”
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