Lewis Hamilton believes his Mercedes team is now the closest challenger to Red Bull and will be capable of mounting a sustained bid for Formula One glory this year. In the wake of last weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix in which champions Red Bull were split by Sebastian Vettel's decision to ignore team orders and pass team-mate Mark Webber to win, the 2008 champion has pointed to the potential of his new team Mercedes.
In the same race, Hamilton's team-mate and friend Nico Rosberg came charging at the rear end of Hamilton, asking his Race Engineer if he could pass The Brit. The team declined Rosberg's request and requested him to remain where he was, to which the German complied. The Mercedes drivers brought their car's home in a well deserved third and fourth place.
"We are the second best team... To be that close - I was competing with the Red Bulls at some stages in the race - and to be in that position is a great feeling. He said that the result might have been different if Mercedes had not been forced to save fuel for most of the contest. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough fuel in the car, more so my side," he added. I was fuel-saving from lap 25 and it was very much an impossible task to challenge those up ahead. I was fuel saving at the end like you would not believe: I was coasting everywhere. I'm sure if we were all on the same fuel it would have been a different situation, so I'm confident about that." Hamilton told
NDTV yesterday.
Hamilton thinks the form shown by Mercedes is proof that the team is now in a position to win races. Insisting that if the team keep going in the direction they are heading right now, they will win races this weekend.
The Brit was mostly coasting around the track, due to the fuel saving he was required to do. In fact, Hamilton has reported he was fuel saving for the majority of the race. Insisting the results would of been different, if Hamilton had the fuel to push forward.
"Definitely," he said. "I think this (Malaysia) proves that if we keep going in the direction we are heading, then there's a possibility that we could win a race at some stage this year."
