New Drivers' Championship leader not counting rivals out yet despite Mercedes' dominant Monza win; Hamilton says Merc more united than ever
Saturday 30 September 2017 09:02, UK
Lewis Hamilton believes his back-to-back wins at Spa and Monza show Mercedes are going from "strength to strength" in their title battle with Ferrari - but insists their rivals are not beaten yet.
For the first time since September 2016, Hamilton holds the lead of the Drivers' Championship after he led a dominant Mercedes one-two on Ferrari's home track of Monza.
Report: Hamilton usurps Vettel from title lead
After struggling in wet qualifying, Vettel recovered to third place as early as lap eight but continuously slipped further behind the two Mercedes and finished a gaping 36 seconds behind at the flag.
Mercedes have now won four of the last five races either side of the summer break but Hamilton, although delighted with the reigning champions' form, is not getting away heading to a Singapore race in two weeks where Ferrari's car is to hold an advantage.
"The last two races have been incredibly strong. We've just gone from strength to strength," said Hamilton. "The car felt fantastic.
"It's still close and a long way to go. Ferrari should be quick at the next circuit with the extra downforce they can put on their car so the fight continues.
"Ferrari might be a little bit quicker when we get to the tracks where you can add downforce. It will continue to be really close."
On a weekend Ferrari celebrated the company's 70th anniversary, Hamilton had said on Friday he thought Mercedes could play the role of ultimate party poopers and secure a one-two race finish.
With the perfect result achieved on Sunday, and in unexpectedly commanding fashion, Hamilton was booed by some of the thousands of Ferrari fans who had gathered below Monza's atmospheric podium.
"It was really special driving around with Valtteri after the chequered flag," he later told Sky F1. "To be on Ferrari's turf and get the one-two, to drive around at the end showed the solidarity."
The expectation that Ferrari will be the team to beat at the next race in Singapore is based on their form at the previous two twisty circuits on the calendar, Monaco and Hungary, when Vettel led a one-two for the Scuderia.
But Hamilton says Mercedes have got a better understanding of the W08 than ever and are united and determined to claim a fourth successive world title double.
"We've had two strong races but we haven't done any massive development to the car in these two," he said. "We definitely understood and were able to extract from the package we had. The guys back at the factory have done an exceptional job. It was a real show this weekend that the first four grid positions were Mercedes [power].
"There are races coming up that will be massively challenging and we are continuing to push. All the bosses were here today. The team and the chairman want it just as much as every single person in the team. It's working better than any unified team I've been a part of."
