F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Hamilton: it feels like title chances are 'slipping away'

Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he feels that his chances of retaining his world championship title are slipping away, although he added that the situation could still turn around in the remaining five races of the 2016 season.

Hamilton was on course to win the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, but en engine blow-out means that instead he has now slipped 23 points behind his Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg in the standings.

“Honestly all year long," he said when asked whether he felt that the title was slipping away from him. "When we had the problems in the first part of the season, you always have the feeling that it’s slipping through your hands, slipping through your fingers and there’s nothing you can do about it.

"Then when you have a splurge of good results and then a bunch of difficult results and it’s a similar feeling to what we had back in Barcelona.

“It’s not my lowest point. I’ve had lower points for sure. In terms of feeling helpless that’s for sure the most helpless it could be at this point. But I will try to find strength from within to be able to come to these next races hoping, and if I can perform like I did this weekend, providing the car holds together, good things can come out.

"I have no idea what’s going to happen in these next five races, all I can do is do what I’ve done this weekend, come as focused as I can be, put in performances like I have done this weekend and pray that the car holds together.

"I still have faith and hope and that’s a powerful thing."

"As long as I end the year knowing I’ve giving it everything and I’ve done everything I possibly could do, and we have done everything we can do, that’s all you could ask for."

Mercedes could have clinched the constructors championship this weekend, but Hamilton's retirement and a Red Bull 1-2 means that the team will have to wait until at least Suzuka before it can celebrate.

"This weekend we came, as a team, we had a confidence that we were going to win the constructors’ title and we didn’t, so I don’t want to talk about the what-ifs, all I can do is focus on tomorrow and focus on my preparation.

"Again, still taking it one race at a time, I’ve just got to focus on doing the best job, there’s no substitution for hard work."

FULL REPORT: Ricciardo wins in Malaysia as Hamilton retires from lead

Breakfast with... Gianni Morbidelli

Silbermann says ... Bugged by Liberty

Romain Grosjean exclusive column: Haas can build momentum for 2017

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

Marko: ‘No chance at all’ for Red Bull in Las Vegas

Helmut Marko believes that Red Bull and Max Verstappen are unlikely to challenge for victory…

7 hours ago

GM revives bid to join F1 with accelerated talks for 2026 entry

Automotive giant General Motors is reportedly back in the game as a potential entrant in…

9 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Thursday's action in pictures

The opening day of running at the Las Vegas GP was a smooth but chilly…

10 hours ago

Williams' headaches persist into Vegas practice

Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…

11 hours ago

Ferrari's Sainz 'not satisfied with where we are' in Vegas

It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…

13 hours ago

Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…

14 hours ago