Following his victory in the Italian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton is in front of the drivers' world championship battle for the first time in 2017.
Bookmakers have made Hamilton the 1/3 favourite to win this season’s title after his Monza win. By comparison, Sebastian Vettel has drifted to 9/4 after Ferrari struggled to match their rivals' pace at their home Grand Prix.
But the Mercedes driver knows all too well that there's no time to rest on his laurels. His advantage over Vettel is a mere three points, with seven races remaining - meaning it's very much all to play for.
"It’s obviously an incredibly exciting season, and the last two races have been incredibly strong for us as a team," Hamilton said this week.
"We’ve gone from strength from strength and really shown real strength and depth," he continued. "I think it’s the way we have come together in this second half so far is exceptional.
"But it’s still close and there’s still a long, long way to go," he acknowledged. "Ferrari might be a little bit quicker, maybe, when we get to a couple of the tracks where it’s maximum downforce.
"We’re going to another track next [Singapore] that the Ferrari should be quite quick at," he said. "Where you can add a little bit more they’ve generally been quite good. Hungary they were exceptionally quick on the qualifying laps so we might see that happen in the next races.
"The fight will continue," he predicted. "It’s been a long, long time that Sebastian has been leading the championship. With all the ups and down to now be just slightly ahead is a great feeling.
"He’s generally had a relatively comfortable lead most of the year," Hamilton pointed out. "I think sometimes at 20-something points. I’d imagine that I’m, what is it, three points ahead?
"I’ll take that and I’m happy with that. I guess the plan for the next races is to try and extend that."
Having won the last two races at Spa and Monza back-to-back, Hamilton is determined to keep up the momentum for the remainder of the season. He promised to stay on 'full attack' all the way to the season finale at Abu Dhabi in November.
"That’s definitely the plan! Giving it absolutely everything we’ve got," he said. "It’s going to continue to be really close between us all. But yeah, absolutely: Beast Mode all the way to the last chequered flag!"
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