06/08/2018
NEWS STORY
Successive wins Germany and Hungary have given Lewis Hamilton a 24-point lead in the championship as the sport heads into the mandatory summer break.
While the first two races saw Sebastian Vettel take a commanding lead in the title race, since then the impetus has see-sawed between the two. But as the sport breaks up for its mandatory two-week break, Hamilton's 24-point advantage is the biggest the gap has been between the two drivers all year, and the Briton is delighted.
"I really could only have dreamed that we would be in the position that we are in right now," he said, "considering all factors and based on our pure performance, where we stand compared to the Ferraris.
"(I'm) really happy, going into the break, particularly with back-to-back wins," he added. "I think that boost will last a long time for our team and it's encouraging for everyone so I'm excited for the break.
"The second half is always exciting," he continued, referring to the nine races that follow once the break comes to an end, "it's always intense, particularly when we go to the long, long hauls.
"(The) second half is usually... it gets a bit better on our side so we will go and prepare and make sure we come back even stronger."
However, the Briton is under no illusions.
"Last year, I don't know if we were leading at this point, but last year I think we had... maybe we felt like we were a little bit stronger than we were compared to this year," he admits. "This year we all know that Ferrari really do have the upper hand pace-wise but I think all around, performance-wise, in terms of strategy and... y'know, because to win a championship is not just about speed, it's about how you manage things, the strategy calls you make, mistakes, all these different things all weigh up. I think, as a whole, we have hopefully done a slightly better job up until now.
"So, we've got work to do, we've got things to improve, we've got performance to bring moving forwards. We've got to try and catch them - but we've got to continue to keep rising with all the other elements, which allows us to beat the Ferraris when they don't bring their A game."