Belgium won’t be a Spa day
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, BELGIUM: Lewis Hamilton posted photos of tropical beaches, fast motorbikes and tough fitness routines from his summer holidays while Sebastian Vettel went cycling and fishing.
Now the two meet again in Spa-Francorchamps to resume their Formula One battle in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix, with each seeking a fifth world title overall.
The title holder and Mercedes driver Hamilton has turned an early-season deficit into a 24-point lead but Ferrari’s Vettel will be hoping to follow in trend in which the second-placed driver in the summer break his won the title in three of the past four seasons.
“We’re in a great position right now, but what’s important is that we don’t drop the ball,” Hamilton said.
“There’s still a lot of work to do because Ferrari are still slightly ahead of us ... We just have to keep going. The goal is now to really pull together and become even stronger for the second half.”
Hamilton entered the four-week break with morale-boosting backto-back victories in Germany and Hungary while Vettel had to settle for second in Hungary and threw away a likely win in Germany by riding out in wet conditions in leading position.
“That’s part of racing, these things happen,” Vettel said. “Our car has a big potential, so I feel relaxed for the races to come.”
Vettel expects an “exciting” second half of the season with nine races still to come until the season ends on November 25 in Abu Dhabi.
The German aims to give Ferrari a first drivers’ title in 11 years but can’t afford such mistakes as in Hockenheim which in all have cost him 40 points so far in the season.
There is however danger that Vettel could fall further behind within an span of eight days because his last top spots in Spa and the following week at the Italian race in Monza date back to 2013 during his time at Red Bull.
Mercedes have won the last three races in Belgium, two of them by Hamilton; and even the last four in Ferrariland at Monza, three of them by the Briton.
But Mercedes motorsport chief Toto Wolff is taking nothing for granted in what many hope will be a title fight until the end.
“If this season has taught us one thing, it’s that there are no clear favourites for specific tracks any more and that it’s not always the fastest car that wins. Instead, the competitive balance seems to swing back and forth from circuit to circuit,” he said. “2018 promises to be a season that we will still be talking about in years to come and we can’t wait to get out there and start racing again.” — dpa