Brazil and Mexico will be ‘tough’ for Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton has admitted he is braced for a tough battle to stop Max Verstappen from continuing to extend his championship lead.
Hamilton is now a dozen points adrift of Verstappen after the Dutch driver raced to victory at the US Grand Prix in Austin. And with the next rounds in Mexico and Brazil expected to suit Verstappen's Red Bull machinery, Hamilton has every right to be concerned that a record-breaking eighth world championship might be slipping away.
"We are going to the next two tracks which are very strong circuits for Red Bull so it is going to be tough," said Hamilton, who finished 1.3 seconds behind Verstappen on Sunday.
"We will just try and minimise how strong they can be compared to us, and see if we can do a better job.
"I am trying not to think about it at the moment. I am living in the moment and will take it one race at a time."
Heading into Sunday's 17th round of 22, Hamilton had triumphed in five of his eight appearances at Austin's Circuit of the Americas.
But after beating pole-sitter Verstappen to the opening bend with a fine start, Hamilton did not have the speed in his Mercedes to pull out a significant gap.
Verstappen then stole the initiative with an early stop, and while Hamilton - on younger rubber in the closing stages took seven seconds out of the Dutchman's lead to tee up a thrilling climax, he was unable to pose a real threat.
"The goal was to get in the lead, and I finally got a good start," added Hamilton. So, it was about holding on to it. But they were just too quick."