Lewis Hamilton says he has been surprised by the manner in which Ferrari has lost performance through the last few Grands Prix, following his win in Japan.
Hamilton was locked in a tight battle with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel for much of the season, and the pair were split by just 14 points following the Belgian Grand Prix.
But Hamilton has won all four races since and now stands on the brink of a fifth world title, with his points advantage now standing at 67.
“As you come into the season, you set the goal high, set the target high,” he said following an emphatic victory at Suzuka on Sunday.
“When we got to mid-season we got that win going into the break and then again, really pushing to make sure that we come back even stronger so again, set the bar high.
“That’s what we were hoping to achieve, it’s not always the case, it’s really not always the case that you achieve your target but I think we have through really great hard work from everyone.
“In terms of Sebastian’s performance… Of course, I didn’t expect… Up until the mid-part of the season they were very strong and then we obviously got to Monza and then after that they were still quite strong from Monza.
“Then in Singapore was when it really started to tail off. I definitely hadn’t anticipated that they would tail off as they have.
“Not only have they lost a lot of performance, lost performance… just performances have not been coming in the same as they had before, as strong as they were before.
“I don’t really have an answer for that and it’s not something I’m really focused on.
“I’m sure Sebastian could tell you why. We’ve just been focusing on trying to do the best job we can and maximise the potential of our own ability, that’s all we can do.”
Hamilton will clinch the title at the next event in Austin if he out-scores Vettel by eight points.
