Lewis Hamilton has ruled out securing a fourth title at the United States Grand Prix unless title rival Sebastian Vettel makes a "silly mistake".
Hamiltin secured pole position on Saturday, but Vettel snatched second to start alongside the Briton on the front-row and it's therefore unlikely the Ferrari man will finish low enough for Hamilton to secure the title – a victory for the Mercedes man with Vettel sixth would be enough.
But without a mistake or reliability issue, Hamilton says it's unlikely it'll happen in Austin, but was happy to have done the job he needed to do.
“It’s highly unlikely it's going to be the case [here]," he said, adding: "Sebastian did a great job today to bring the Ferrari back up.
"I think ultimately all I can do is do the best I can with my abilities and try to get maximum points.
“Sebastian is right there so, unless he makes a silly mistake which is unlikely it will go to the next races."
Hamilton expects a tough race on Sunday with the victory far from guaranteed.
"It's going to be a great race out there tomorrow, going be a tough one because looking after the tyres in these conditions is still tough but looking forward to it.
“The track was very difficult today, with the wind picking up you've got a headwind into turn one, a tailwind out of turn one, whole of sector one is tailwind and then a headwind into turn 9, so it's shifting the whole way through the lap.
“You're kind of gauging how hard you can push, how much must lay off. But that's why I love it here, such a fantastic track to drive and especially when you've got a car you can rely on.”
Discussion about this post