F1: Hamilton Admits He's In Trouble If Red Bull Pace Continues

Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he will be in trouble and will likely not win his 8th world title if Max Verstappen and Red Bull carry the same dominating form that allowed Max Verstappen to overtake the Mercedes duo on the opening lap and open up a dominating 16 second lead over the defending world champion. Hamilton instead of having an eye on Verstappen was largely looking backward with him fending off his teammate, Sergio Perez for P2 who was within a second by the end of the race. 

"There's still four races, there's still... obviously 19 points is a lot of points and I think he's had a lot of wins this year," he said. 

Verstappen, despite retiring twice and once from a dominating lead in Baku, has opened a 19 point lead over the world champion. Verstappen also became the first driver to win 9 races in a season with a Honda power unit overtaking Aryton Senna's record from the 1988 season. 

Lewis Hamilton is trailing Verstappen by 19 points as he attempts to win his 5th consecutive world title 
Photo Credit: AFP

He joins the likes of Senna, Mansell, Hamilton, Rosberg, and Schumacher to be the only 6th driver to have won 9 races in a season. Even in Brazil due to the high altitude and aerodynamic nature of the race, many believe it to be a Red Bull track but things could be mixed up as rain is expected over the weekend where F1 will also host the last sprint race of the season. 

"If they keep up that superior speed and carry that into the next races then we will be in trouble. I don't know if they're going to use that big rear wing there again. We'll see when we get there, but I hope we're closer," said the 36-year-old.