Ham’s top three

Lewis Hamilton has singled out Mclaren’s Fernando Alonso, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen as the three men he needs to watch out for most in his title defence this season. “I really hope we are all in the fight [this] year, it would be friggin’ amazing,” said Hamilton. “We’re the four strongest drivers. Sebastian, for example you could say ‘give more space’ – not in a negative way. Max takes a lot of risks. Also, you have to give him more space, but he is more inexperienced than the others. Fernando – toughest driver there is, so you have to keep utmost respect and really utilise your racecraft because his is mighty.”