Hamilton expects Ferrari and Red Bull Racing to be close to them this year, and hopes the troubles from 2015 have been put aside and the team can continue their fantastic run of victories that stretches back to the Monaco Grand Prix in May.
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Mercedes struggled in the same race a year ago but dominated the rest of the season – just as they are doing now.
“It’s not going to be an easy-breezy drive”. “Even when we won in 2014 it wasn’t straightforward”.
“Last year was hard and we hope it won’t be the same”, Hamilton said.
The pair have traded top spot in the drivers’ standings so far with Hamilton now edging his rival by just two points going into next Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix.
“You can see that where we got it right is that our vehicle is the best compromise”.
“But when you look at how far we’ve come as a team this season, from the position we were in, then I realise I’m in a phenomenal position”. Button and Hamilton spent three seasons together at McLaren from 2010 to 2012 before the now triple world champion moved to Mercedes.
“After a strong showing in Italy, we go to Singapore with a big challenge ahead of us”.
“We have to optimise everything to get a solid result. We are curious and excited to see how it goes”. “We made some conclusions that helped us in the following races and throughout the season, and in Singapore [this year] we are going to check if we were right”.
“You can play the blame game and say the engine is not good enough, the vehicle is draggy and has a rake like you are doing a handstand – but then you can’t expect it to go fast on the straights”.
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“You have a team that is doing extremely well on circuits like Singapore with high downforce but they are not competitive on a circuit like [Monza]. The points gap has gone up and down but I’ve taken it one race at a time – and that’s the best way for me, as you can see by how the gap is now”.
