Hamilton: “I never thought I would have such a lead” over Vettel

Difficult for Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) to do better this weekend: after having signed an authoritative pole position on the Suzuka circuit (Japan), the Briton transformed the test the next day with a victory, accompanied by 25 points for the conquest of the world title.

Ideally placed on the starting grid, the Mercedes preserved its advantage at the first corner, only to abandon it during the waltz of the pit stops. The only distressing phase for the protégé of Toto wolff was the finale of the Grand Prix. Slowed down by the intervention of the virtual safety car, the leader of the event was only a handful of seconds ahead of his closest pursuer, Max Verstappen (Red Bull). Lewis Hamilton managed to preserve a sufficient margin to pass under the checkered flag waved by the winner of the last Indianapolis 500 Takuma Sato as winner.

SOUND ON

“Get in there, Lewis boy.”

That winning moment for @LewisHamilton at the #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/asay26NiWu

— Formula 1 (@F1) 8th October, 2017

Despite this 21st consecutive points finish (a personal best), Lewis Hamilton keeps his feet on the ground, and salutes the performance of the Red Bulls. “Max had a remarkable race, it wasn’t a walk in the park for us. Today, the Red Bulls seemed faster in racing conditions than in testing. I managed to keep Max behind me, but it was tight, especially at the end. My tires got cold during the neutralization, there were some latecomers ahead”, explains the Mercedes driver.

Above all, with a lead reaching 59 points, Lewis Hamilton can already imagine himself world champion from the next race in Austin (United States), as long as Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) does not finish better than 5th in the event of victory for the Englishman. “Honestly, I never thought even in my dreams that I would have such a lead after Japan. Ferrari put up great resistance all season. I really have to thank the team members. The reliability is optimal, they are very meticulous, and that is why we are able to have such results. » 

Discover the analysis of the Japanese GP carried out by our special correspondent in issue 2135 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.