Hamilton’s 40-point lead "makes no difference" to Merc

Lewis Hamilton’s 40-point advantage in the 2018 Formula 1 world championship standings “makes no difference” to Mercedes’ approach, according to team boss Toto Wolff.

Hamilton converted a stunning pole position lap into his seventh victory of the season in Singapore to open up a 40-point margin over closest title rival Sebastian Vettel, who could only manage third place despite going into the weekend as the pre-race favourite.

It marked the latest race that Hamilton and Mercedes has capitalised on Ferrari, with the German manufacturer expecting a tricky weekend in Singapore around a circuit that has proven something of a ‘bogey track’ for the team in recent years.

But Wolff believes Mercedes cannot afford to get complacent with six races still to go in the title race as he remains wary about the threat Ferrari poses and how quickly things can change.

“40 points advantage or zero makes no difference to us,” Wolff insisted. “It’s six weekends to go. You can see like in Austria, we had a double DNF, how quickly it goes, and you are losing 25 points.

“In so far, we just have to look weekend by weekend and try to perform at our best and it’s only won when it’s won.

“There are marginal gains that will determine the outcome of this championship, because on performance levels, we are very close to each other.

“So we have to keep the foot on the throttle and try to avoid mistakes and continue to develop the car.”

Hamilton echoed Wolff’s comments and stressed Mercedes must continue to take the same approach in order to keep the pressure up on Ferrari.

“We’ve just got to keep the same mentality and the same hard work process we have,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.

“Coming into this weekend we still felt they [Ferrari] were [the team to beat]. I have tremendous belief in this team. I truly believe we’re more united and I think I’ve got the smartest group of guys in my team and I think they’re all bringing their A-game.

“They’re bringing their A-Game and I am bringing my A-Game so unless you’re coming up with straight with the ace and that’s what we’re bringing every weekend right now.”

Hamilton believes he is continuing to improve as the season goes on and warned his rivals there is still “more to come” from his side in the remaining races.

“Honestly I think I am improving weekend in, weekend out,” he added. “I am learning more about the car, I am learning more about the tyres and I am able to pull out those laps like on Saturday.

“There’s still more to come. We will keep going through these next races and there will be more improvements with the car, with the ride, with the bumps, with all these different things.

“We’ve just got to keep on it. We can’t change our approach, we’ve just to keep going hard.”