Lew: I’ll be on Seb’s Bak

LEWIS HAMILTON has promised he will be right on championship leader Sebastian Vettel’s tailpipes in Azerbaijan after giving short shrift to suggestions he has lost his edge.

Yesterday’s qualifying in Baku set up a thrilling race – made all the more spicy by

ex-F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone questioning four-time champ Hamilton’s will to win.

The stony-faced Brit (right) was just

0.179 seconds adrift of the German ace and rapped back at Ecclestone’s claims that “he is not the racer he was”.

In a spine-tingling final lap around the tricky street circuit Hammy clocked 1min

41.677secs against Ferrari star Vettel’s

1min 41.498secs with his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas third.

Hamilton, hell-bent on getting back to winning ways after slumping into Vettel’s shadow in the opening three clashes, said: “We are back in the mix.

“And I’m happy that the team has given me a car that can be a winner again.”

He survived a near-miss spin-off in stage two of qualifying and roared back into supreme form for the final showdown.

He added: “We are looking good. Ferrari have a phenomenal car but I am sure I can give them a good run for their money.”

In a nine-word reply to Ecclestone, he coldly said: “We will see at the end of the year.”

Vettel (below right) snatching his third pole position in a row in the hunt for his 50th career win, was cock-ahoop and he said: “The team has given me just the car I want. And I am really happy. It’ll be a tough race – but I am confident I can fight off Lewis for another first place.” Mercedes supremo Toto Wolff hailed his two stars, Hammy and Bottas, and reckoned the 51-lap, 190-mile battle around the 3.7m-long circuit will be a cracker. He said: “It is going to be a big fight for the title all the way to the last race. This season is all set to be a celebration of everything we love about Formula One racing.

“We have three teams – us, Ferrari and Red Bull – fighting fiercely for wins and the championship.

“We have seen some thrilling races so far with nail-biting overtakes and wheel-towheel action with the fastest cars in F1 history driven by some of the greatest and most talented and brave drivers this sport has ever seen.

“It is all building up to be a legendary season, one that we will all look back on with a smile.

“And it is not just the fans all over the world who are excited at the prospect and promise, we in the teams, too, feel the same way.

“It is turning into a battle of intensity with every team operating at the highest level and totally committed.

“We are all under tremendous pressure in what will, I promise, be an amazing competition for the championship. Right now it is wide open.”