Hamilton doubts title chance
Mexico City, Oct. 24: If things go his way, Lewis Hamilton can clinch his sixth drivers’ world title triumph in the rarefied atmosphere of the Mexican Grand Prix this weekend.
It would be a monumental achievement, nudging him ahead of five-time champion Juan Fangio and making him the second most successful driver in Formula One history behind only Michael Schumacher whose seven titles between 1994 and 2004 remain the pinnacle.
The 34-year-old Englishman, though, holds out little hope of either winning the race at a venue ill-suited to the strengths of his Mercedes car or sealing the title.
“Mexico is generally our worst race of the year because of the way our car is set up and it’s going to be a tough one for us,” said Hamilton.
History shows that this is one of his least favoured tracks — he has won just once, in 2016, in four races although he
did enough in 2017 and 2018 to secure the world titles in Mexico.
Hamilton, who leads the championship by 64 points with four races, including Mexico still to come, knows he can take a cautious approach without scrapping for victory on Sunday.
He will secure the title by out-scoring his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who lies second, by at least 14
points. But he accepts that the Finn will be a very competitive rival and unlikely to wave him through to the chequered flag.
Resurgent Ferrari
Both the in-form Ferrari team and Red Bull, for whom Max Verstappen will hope to complete a hat-trick of Mexican victories after his wins in 2017 and 2018, have high hopes of success at a track where Mercedes have admitted they expect to struggle.
Although Mercedes completed a record sixth consecutive constructors’ and drivers’ championship double at the Japanese Grand Prix earlier this month, the team have been overhauled by Ferrari, in terms of pure speed and performance, since the Belgian GP.
Charles Leclerc won in Belgium, where Ferrari began a run of five successive pole positions.
That domination yielded three victories, two for Leclerc and one for fourtime champion Sebastian Vettel, and two opportunities lost due to mistakes and misfortunes.
“After two races in which we could have done better, we arrive in Mexico determined to win. We will be aiming for our sixth consecutive pole, before looking to convert that into victor,” aid Ferrari team chief Mattia Binotto.