‘Lucky’ Hamilton wary of Ferrari backlash at Suzuka
Lewis Hamilton rode his luck for the second race in a row to stretch his world championship lead over Sebastian Vettel but said he fears a Ferrari backlash in Japan this week.
After finishing second in the Malaysian Grand Prix, Hamilton was asked if Ferrari’s pace was a concern. “Yeah, definitely, We have some work to do,” he said.
“These next races are going to be crucial in terms of ironing out some of the creases we have with the car.”
Hamilton took his lead to 34 points after finishing behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen at the Malaysian Grand Prix. But the drive of the day was from the flying Vettel who carved his way from the back of the grid to finish fourth.
Hamilton’s Mercedes also struggled for raw pace in Singapore a fortnight ago. But there he took a surprise win from fifth on the grid after avoiding the firstlap crash that took out both Ferraris. Hamilton could be handed another break in Suzuka as Vettel may incur a grid penalty if he needs a new gearbox after a crazy post-race shunt with Lance Stroll. The incident wrecked the rear of the German’s car and he will be demoted five places if the gearbox needs changing.
“It was a much better weekend than we had anticipated after Friday. Considering the issues we did have with the car this is a good result,” conceded Hamilton. Mercedes have dominated Formula One for the past four years but it seems their era of supremacy could be coming to an end as both Ferrari and Red Bull appear to have the better car.
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