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Lewis Hamilton said Sebastian Vettel buckled "under extreme pressure" in 2017. In June, the quadruple world champion was locked in a tight championship battle with Vettel in Azerbaijan, when the Ferrari driver deliberately crashed into him during a safety car period.
"Seb showed more nerves this season than before," Hamilton told Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspaper. "None of us are superman, and everyone can fail under extreme pressure," the Mercedes driver added. "Some reached that point sooner, others later. It's like tennis. If Federer plays against Nadal, one waits for a small weakness in the other, because half a per cent is enough."
But Hamilton said he thrives under high pressure. "You saw it at the end of the season. Suddenly I had no more pressure and was not very good," he laughed. "I compare this season with a 100 sprint by Usain Bolt," Hamilton continued. "He often gets a bad start but then he comes back."
And he expects Ferrari's Vettel to come out of the blocks strongly in 2018. "I'm assuming that he recovers his strength for next year, but I'm not afraid," said Hamilton. (GMM)
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
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Replies (3)
Login to replyf1ski
Posts: 726
Knowing that your competition can run longer at higher power levels would make any racer nervous. It takes skill out of the equation when your car can run 10kph faster with more downforce.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I get your point, but I disagree with the implication that Mercedes had a better car all season. That's simply incorrect. I still think Ferrari and Vettel threw away the championship with driving errors and pathetic reliability issues.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Ferrari probably had the better car up until the midpoint, after that it was a bit more vague. Mercedes probably had the better engine overall all along, and it paid off at the end of the season. Not sure how much Ferrari impacted the spark plug, I say it was bad luck, but yeah, Ferrari were definitely overextending it on the reliability side anyway. But then again, you sorta need to when you are up against Mercedes.