Hamilton unhappy with team strategy
Lewis Hamilton fears he will be made to wait for his sixth World Championship after accusing Mercedes of costing him a shot at victory in Japan.
Hamiltonwillmovetowithin one title of Michael Schumacher's record if he wins in Mexico a week next Sunday andValtteriBottas,whoyesterday claimed his first triumph since April, finishes fifth or lower.
However, the Briton's chancesofsewingupthechampionship for a third successive yearinMexicoCitywouldhave beengreaterbutforaquestionable strategy decision - one which Hamilton described on the radio as a "**** -up" - as he finished third.
Forthesecondtimeinthree races, the championship leader was aggrieved to have lost out on strategy. In Singapore, he claimed his pit wall's failure to react to an early stop by SebastianVettelrobbedhimofan easy win.
Here,Hamilton'sargument was three-fold. First, he lost 10 seconds to Bottas after being kept out on old tyres for three more laps than his team-mate.
Then, Hamilton believed he would have been better off changing to the most durable hard rubber.
And, when he was not, the Englishmanthoughtheshould have been told to manage his tyres, not blitz them in trying to catch Vettel, who like Bottas,wasonanobvioustwo-stop strategy. Hamilton finished half a second behind the Ferrari driver.
"I don't anticipate it will be Mexico where I win the championship,"saidHamilton. "We still have a battle. Today could have been done better. There have been multiple scenarios this year where that has been the case. We should have got a one-two but the strategy was not optimum for me.”