Hamilton backs Vettel to rebound from current struggles

Lewis Hamilton has backed Sebastian Vettel to rebound from his difficult run of form through the 2019 Formula 1 season after the points gap between the two grew to 100 points at Silverstone last weekend.

As Hamilton took his seventh win of the year for Mercedes, Vettel finished one lap down in 16th place after crashing into the back of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen while fighting for third place.

Vettel has gone almost 11 months without winning a race for Ferrari, with the four-time world champion saying himself the start to the season had been “difficult”. He sits 100 points behind Hamilton in the drivers' championship after 10 races.

Asked if he missed Vettel from the battle at the front, Hamilton spoke about his enjoyment in scrapping with the Ferrari drivers on previous occasions.

“I’m not one for missing many things. I miss my dogs, I miss family, but I don’t miss certain action things,” Hamilton said.

“But of course I love the racing. I do love the racing element, I loved competing against Ferrari last year. I wish the battle today was with the Ferraris.

“It’s different when you’re racing within a team and I’ve always told you, I much, much prefer it when you’re racing with the Red Bull and the Ferraris. But currently that’s not how it is.

“But I absolutely believe he’ll rebound. You look at the greats, playing tennis, and he is one of those. He’s had a difficult race today, but he’s a four-time world champion.

“He will recover. He will redeem himself if he feels he needs to, and he will come back stronger the next race. That’s what great athletes do.”