Lewis Hamilton says he has "no reason" to doubt he will hit back at Nico Rosberg in the drivers' championship with six races remaining.

While Hamilton was hampered by engine penalties in Belgium and a poor start in Italy, the defending champion endured a difficult weekend in Singapore while team-mate Rosberg excelled to take his third victory in a row. The result saw Rosberg take an eight-point advantage with six races remaining, but Hamilton is confident he will turn the recent results around.

"Singapore was a difficult weekend for me, so to come away with a podium in the circumstances was pretty good damage limitation," Hamilton said. "Ultimately, Nico did an exceptional job and I didn't have my best weekend. But that's the way it goes.

"We're both fiercely competitive. Some weekends he does great, some weekends I do great. It's a combination of things that all come together to make a strong weekend and every one is different. I have no idea if the momentum will swing back to me or when it might. But we still have six races left, so I just have to keep giving it my all and hope for the best. That's all you can do as a sportsman.

"It's going to take some good results to get back in front and stay there - but I've had plenty of those in the past, so there's no reason to think they won't come back to me again."

And Hamilton says this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix represents a good chance to close the gap at a track he usually performs well on.

"Sepang is my first shot at it and I'm really looking forward to getting out there. It's a track I usually go pretty well at - plus we have some really fantastic support from the Malaysian people, including all the guys and girls from Petronas. It should be a great weekend, so if we can get a result to match that would be awesome. Let's see how it goes..."

FEATURE: When F1 team-mates fight for the title

F1i Classic: Sepang 2001 - Ferrari pulls off a masterstroke

F1i's Eric Silbermann asks what Nico Rosberg has to do to get the credit he deserves

From the cockpit: Felipe Nasr on lights and shadows in Singapore

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

Sargeant feeling 'comfortable' despite rumors of potential seat loss

Williams driver Logan Sargeant is maintaining his composure amid speculation regarding a potential mid-season replacement,…

2 hours ago

Norris: Miami ‘not the track’ to judge McLaren upgrades

Lando Norris says Miami isn’t the best circuit to gauge the full impact of McLaren’s…

3 hours ago

Red Bull’s Mintzlaff publicly backs ‘very good CEO’ Horner

Red Bull managing director Oliver Mintzlaff has for the very first time publicly expressed his…

5 hours ago

Alonso to talk to FIA about nationality bias in F1 penalty decisions

Fernando Alonso says he’ll be looking to engage with the FIA regarding his concerns over…

7 hours ago

Imola 1985: When Prost was too light to win

On this day in 1985, the San Marino Grand Prix ended in confusion with drivers…

8 hours ago

Miami Speed Trap: Who is the fastest of them all?

As a street-track spectacular, the Miami International Autodrome features three long straights and an equal…

9 hours ago