Hamilton: Battling to second in Austin 'shows I am still here!'

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton came agonisingly close to picking up his first win of the season in today's United States Grand Prix, only to be denied in the final laps by the unstoppable Max Verstappen.

"I'm shattered," Hamilton said afterwards. "It felt amazing to be in the lead, but the car was a handful today."

Hamilton has won a race in every season he's competed since his F1 debut in Australia in 2007, but runs the risk of that streak ending this season if he can't find a way to beat his rival in the remaining three races of 2022.

Hamilton led for a total of mine laps after a slow pit stop for Verstappen, but in the end the Red Bull was much too fast down the straights for Hamilton to be able to stay in front all the way to the finish line.

• Read also: Verstappen beats Hamilton in Austin, Red Bull clinches title

"We were in the lead and I could see he was closing a second per lap and I couldn't really answer it," Hamilton told the media in parc ferme after the end of Sunday's race at the Circuit of the Americas.

"He came from so far back on the straight," he continued. "I think they are a lot - like 10kph - faster than us on the straights.

"At the end of the straight our mirrors are vibrating so much that I couldn't see where he was, so it was difficult to defend," he explained. "To get a win would have been a huge triumph for us all, and hugely rewarding.

But despite the disappointment of missing out on victory in Austin, Hamilton was buoyed by the team's improvement. A new package of upgrades this weekend meant they were back in the thick of the battle at the front after a tough season.

"I would like to start by saying a big thank you to my team," he told Sky Sports F1. "Everyone back at the factory is working so hard, and it has been such a trying year for everyone.

"They worked so hard to bring those upgrades in and it really had an effect so we were closer today. I am really proud of everybody. Sorry, I couldn't get the win, I gave it absolutely everything."

"What I'll take from today is that we had good pace," he added. "I am still here, and I know that when they build the car I will take it to the top. We've just to keep on working.

Today's win for Verstappen meant that Red Bull had taken the constructors championship for the first time since 2013, bringing to an end a remarkable run of back-to-back team titles for Mercedes.

Ferrari are currently second in the standings, but Mercedes closed the gap on their Italian rivals by 14 points this week and haven't given up hope of catching them in the final three races of the season to seize the runners-up spot.

"I cannot put in words how much it would mean to the team," Hamilton said when asked how much the prospect of overhauling Ferrari mattered to them.

"Especially with everything that is going on and everything that has happened in the last race last year, what happened this year in terms of our car performance and what's happened with all the news and everything."

Hamilton himself is currently sixth in the drivers championship, 20 points behind his team mate George Russell who was fifth in Austin after incurring a penalty for spinning polesitter Carlos Sainz at the start.

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