Lewis Hamilton is determined to make the most of Mercedes’ potential power advantage and grab back the Formula One championship lead at the United States Grand Prix.
The Mercs hope to have the edge on Max Verstappen and Red Bull on Sunday with the Dutchman leading by six points ahead of the final six races of the season.
Held up from media duties on Thursday after getting locked in his room, defending champion Hamilton is nonetheless ready to race at one of his favourite destinations - and take advantage of any opportunity he gets to claim a record eighth title.
“It’s important to win every race somehow, maximising our points,” he told reporters. “That’s our goal over these next six races.
“It’s going to be incredibly difficult and there will be moments where we can perhaps edge [Red Bull] out. I don’t like to assume that Mexico is not going to be strong but they are usually very strong in Mexico.
“But a lot can happen in these six races, so I think we just take it one race at a time, give it everything we’ve got.”
Verstappen’s charge to the 2021 title comes after a long period of Hamilton dominance and the change of pace has drawn fresh motivation out of the 36-year-old.
He stated: “This is what racing’s about, this is the dream that any racing driver or performer or athlete dreams of.
“Having the opportunity to fight for something so special and I’m really enjoying this battle that we have against another team. I’m just trying to focus and do the best job we can, we’ve got six tough races ahead of us.”
Red Bull have aero chief Adrian Newey back with the team following a cycling accident and Verstappen described the boost already felt by the team upon his return at Turkey.
Verstappen said: “It’s a full team effort and, of course, Adrian is a leading figure in that and it’s always very nice if Adrian is coming to the track, you can exchange a lot of things, ideas.
“So it was good to see him back again and in Turkey. We’re just looking forward now to the rest of the season, what we can do as a team altogether to try and find a bit more performance.”
He added: “[Turkey] was alright but we still have a bit of work to do. We want to be faster.
“The team result was good in Turkey. The overall performance wasn’t amazing in Turkey. We’ll try again here, see how quick we are.”
