Mercedes’ ‘hard slog’ paying off in F1 title fight - Hamilton

Mercedes began the campaign on the back foot following a difficult pre-season but the championship momentum swung towards Hamilton in two dramatic races prior to the summer break.

Red Bull had threatened to pull clear in the title race amid a run of five successive wins but its streak was broken at Silverstone when Max Verstappen was eliminated in a controversial collision with Hamilton, who went on to win. Verstappen hit more trouble in Hungary after getting caught up in the Turn 1 carnage triggered by Valtteri Bottas.

Hamilton claimed his first pole in six races in Hungary and would have likely won had Mercedes not got the restart wrong by not sending the seven-time world champion out on slick tyres when the rest of the field pitted, forcing him to stage a fightback drive for the second race running.

Mercedes has been working hard to unlock more performance from its W12 car and appeared to make a breakthrough with the introduction of an upgrade at the British Grand Prix, something that has encouraged Hamilton.

“I hope so, I really hope so,” Hamilton said. “I tell you it’s definitely been a hard slog for us in terms of trying to… those guys with their update, they had I think a combination of things but they took a really good step once we got the midpoint.

“Monaco onwards was intense and the upgrade really has worked. Then we’ve just been working on our procedure through the weekend and trying to extract more from the car and I think now we’re a lot closer.

“[Hungary was] very strong and definitely surprising to see how strong it is compared to them so proud of everyone back at the factory, as I said, who continue to not give up.

“We never give up. We keep pushing and fighting and I’m so honoured to be able to race for a team like this and we learn from these mistakes. We wish they didn’t happen, but it’s not how you fall, it’s how you get back up.”

The ultra-close title battle will resume at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, with Hamilton holding an eight-point advantage over Verstappen in the drivers’ standings, while Mercedes is 12 points clear of Red Bull in the constructors’ championship.