Seven-Time Champ Hamilton Maintains Realistic Tone Ahead Of United States GP
22nd October 2021
RedBull's Verstappen leads the F1 driver standings with 262.5 points, ahead of Hamilton in second with 256.5 points
- A rather cheerful Lewis Hamilton remained realistic and optimistic after arriving in Texas ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix
- Hamilton is seeking a record-increasing sixth win at the Circuit of the Americas to overhaul Dutch rival Max Verstappen’s six-point lead with six races to go, said he was taking the title run-in one race at a time
- Hamilton and Mercedes have a dominant record in Texas, the champion having won five times since the inaugural race in 2012 and taken seven podiums in eight contests
A rather cheerful Lewis Hamilton remained realistic and optimistic after arriving in Texas ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.
Hamilton is seeking a record-increasing sixth win at the Circuit of the Americas to overhaul Dutch rival Max Verstappen’s six-point lead with six races to go, said he was taking the title run-in one race at a time.
RedBull's Verstappen leads the F1 driver standings with 262.5 points, ahead of Hamilton in second with 256.5 points.
His Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas rounds up the top three in the standings after accumulating 177 points thus far, after his victory at the Turkish GP.
It is a race he badly needs to win to boost his hopes of landing an unprecedented eighth world title, a prospect he conceded as being very difficult to achieve.
"It’s important to win every race somehow, you know, maximising our points, that’s our goal over these next six races and it’s going to be incredibly difficult.
"And there will be moments where we can perhaps edge them (Red Bull) out and I don’t like to assume that Mexico is not going to be strong, but they are usually very strong in Mexico," Hamilton stated.
“So, I think it’s going to be close. A lot can happen in these six races and so I think we just take it one race at a time and then give it everything we’ve got," the seven-time world champion added.
Hamilton and Mercedes have a dominant record in Texas, the champion having won five times since the inaugural race in 2012 and taken seven podiums in eight contests.
He added he senses the race had grown in status and size in recent years as F1 established itself in America as a major sport, partly due to the success of the Netflix series ‘Drive to Survive’.
"I think we already knew from the beginning that there was huge potential here.
"My first race in the US was 2007, but already I’d been to a NASCAR race, been to an NFL game and an NBA game. I’ve seen how it is – they’re crazy about sports over here," the Mercedes driver added.