Lewis Hamilton believes he is within “shooting range” of beating Sergio Perez to second place in the 2023 Drivers’ Championship – but insists the Red Bull driver retains the edge.
Perez has been unable to recapture the form that saw him win two of the first four races of the year, dropping a colossal 251 points behind team-mate Max Verstappen.
Despite Red Bull dominating the campaign to seal the Constructors’ title with a record six rounds to spare, Perez’s ongoing rut has enabled Hamilton to close on second place.
The Briton’s chances of splitting the Red Bull drivers in the Drivers’ standings were dented by his disqualification from second in the United States for a technical infringement.
However, Hamilton recovered the lost points last Sunday in Mexico by charging through from sixth to second, with Perez retiring after first-lap contact with Charles Leclerc.
Hamilton is now only 20 points adrift with three rounds remaining, but the Mercedes driver believes that Perez is still in the driving seat to finish runner-up to Verstappen.
“It’s mostly dependent on Checo’s weekends really,” Hamilton said. “They have the championship-winning car. He’s just been unfortunate, I think, in some scenarios.
“Obviously I’ve lost quite a lot of points in the last two races but he lost points today. So it’s swings and roundabouts. I think coming into the weekend, having lost points last week, I didn’t think I would really be in shooting range particularly but after today, yeah, we’ll just give it our best shot.”
But Hamilton has downplayed the battle with Perez, clarifying that helping Mercedes clinch second in the Constructors’ Championship carries more significance.
“Honestly, it’s not going to make a big difference to my life, whether I come second or third,” he conceded. “It’s more important to get the team second in the Constructors and so that’s what I’m focused on. It’s a bonus if we get second in the Drivers.”
Despite trailing only Verstappen in the past two races, Hamilton is cautious about Mercedes’ late-season momentum, having experienced a similar run at the end of 2022.
The seven-time F1 champion has reiterated his stance that the Brackley-based squad must introduce seismic changes to battle Red Bull from the outset next year.
Asked if his recent showings provided confidence ahead of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix this weekend, Hamilton replied: “It definitely gives us a lot of confidence.
“I mean, last year, at the same time, we were doing the same thing, but last year, I think we were three-tenths behind Max in quali – or something like that, and I came second again but he walked off with it. So, we’re really just mirroring what we did last year.
“So, we have to make some real big changes for next year. Because obviously, in Bahrain earlier this year, they’re 1.5 seconds a lap faster than us at least. So key is to make sure that’s not the case in Bahrain, but I think hopefully these next couple of races will be close.
“But I’d probably put money on it that he’d [Verstappen] get to 18, 19 [wins], with that car.”
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