Lewis Hamilton says that he's loving how the 2018 season is turning into a genuine three-way battle for the world championship.
The three big teams have all won two races apiece in the first six Grand Prix outings of the year. Ferrari took back-to-back wins at Melbourne and Bahrain, before Red Bull put a stop to that with victory in Shanghai.
Hamilton himself came out on top in Baku and Barcelona. But any suggestions that his dominant win in Spain meant that Mercedes were back on top were quickly quashed when Red Bull emerged victorious in Monaco last week.
"It definitely is a three-way fight,” Hamilton said this week.
“I personally love it," he added when asked how he felt about how tight the season was looking. "It’s challenging me more than I can express.
"It’s the biggest challenge that I’ve had with my boys, but I’m loving that challenge," he continued. "I’m loving having to dig super deep in my technical knowledge and learning more and how I can communicate.
"How I can really pick the right set-up and get it right for the weekend, all these different things. I’m enjoying that."
There was certainly no question that Mercedes was doing everything it could to win every weekend and that there has been no holding back or 'sandbagging'.
“I’m telling you, we’re doing everything we can to win the race," he insisted. "And then the Red Bulls win it, and then the Ferraris win it, and then we win.
"It’s great to have that."
Hamilton currently leads Sebastian Vettel by 14 points in the drivers standings, and Mercedes has a 22 point lead over Ferrari in the constructors championship. Early reliability issues mean that Red Bull are some way back in third.
"Ferrari I think still are the strongest," acknowledged Hamilton. "Their car was working quite well through the whole season so far. [But] they have dropped the ball a few times, and we’ve capitalised on that.
"We are further ahead than we would be if everyone had done the same job, if you know what I mean," he added. "But I still feel that they’re the strongest and Sebastian has been doing the strongest job."
However, he said that no one should count out Red Bull and Daniel Ricciardo just yet.
"It is a three-way battle," he reiterated. "Red Bull potentially have got an upgrade coming at some stage, engine-wise I think at the next race,.
"It will be interesting to see their performance, and they will continue to get stronger through the year."
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