Hamilton leads the championship by 34 points with a maximum of 125 available in the remaining five races
Lewis Hamilton finished second on the Malaysian Grand Prix behind Max Verstappen who was driving Red Bull’s tag. He is leading the championship with 34 points ahead of his title rival Sebastian Vettel.
Vettel started the race from end and finished at fourth position in Malaysian Grand Prix. The pace of Vettel’s Ferrari has concerned Hamilton, while 125 points are still available in next five races.
“Yeah, definitely. We have some work to do.”, said Hamilton while answering to a question about whether Ferrari pace concerned him.
Mercedes could enjoy championship lead if Ferrari is penalized next weekend in Japan for Vettels involvement in a crash. He smashed left rear suspension of his car which might need a replacement of gearbox with a grid penalty.
Ferrari is still unaware of the extent to which the damage is done. Penalty could be avoided if only the casing is damage and there is no need to replace any other component of the gearbox.
Hamilton hoping for Mercedes improvement
Mercedes driver Bottas went on track with new components being experimented while the Hamilton went on with the old components.
Hamilton struggled for speed but was optimistic as he gained more six points in Malaysia ‘considering the pace deficit’ and Ferrari engine problems.
“We still have problems with this car and it was magnified here,” Hamilton said.
“I’m hoping it’s not like this at the next few races. It feels like it is getting worse as the season goes on but it has been great in other races. I have no idea where it will be an issue and where it will be fine. Hopefully it won’t be so bad.”
He added about car that, “nothing we can do about the car”.
“People have been talking all year that we have the best car,” he said. “It is a fact that some races the car has worked out to be better but overall globally we have not got the best car and we have done an exceptional job with what we have.”
