Lewis Hamilton considers Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso biggest rivals – Formula 1 news
McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton has said that he considers Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing and Fernando Alonso of Ferrari his main rivals in 2012 Formula 1 season ahead.
Hamilton took an incredible victory in 2012 Canadian Grand Prix held at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montreal on June 10, after he qualified for second grid position and emerged as the seventh different winner in the season so far. He followed the strategy
of two pit stops which proved out to be successful in the end.
On the other hand, the defending champion, Vettel also went for two pit stops. However, he could only secure 4th place finish in the race after setting off from the pole position.
Besides, the Spaniard gambled with one pit stop strategy and lost his lead during the ending laps due to high tyre degradation. He came 5th in the race after qualifying for 3rd place in the grid.
The 2008 world championship is currently leading the drivers’ championship with 88 points. In addition, he is 2 points ahead of Alonso who has a lead of just 1 point over Vettel.
However, he believes that both the drivers are biggest threat for him in the approaching season as they have shown some impressive performances in the season until now.
“I think Fernando and Sebastian,” he said. “Sebastian being current world champion and Red Bull are current constructors' champions. They've got an incredible car again this year and so they will be very tough to beat throughout the year.”
In addition, he said that it is very hard to make any kind of predictions for the forthcoming races while he said that tyre management and continuous car advancement complemented with the improved performance of the drivers will be the key to win the championship
title this year.
“Fernando and Ferrari have picked up their pace massively. You can see through last three races they've brought new upgrades and then a big upgrade package copying our exhaust system, so they are pushing incredibly hard. The whole battle of the year is understanding
the tyres and the development of the cars from the teams, and also drivers staying on form,” he said.
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