Lewis Hamilton is adamant he is giving no thought to a sixth world title despite effectively sewing it up with a surprise victory at the Russian Grand Prix.
Hamilton had been struggling to match the pace of the two Ferraris but, as his rival team were caught up in another team orders spat, he forced his way through for victory No9 of the season.
It ended his longest winless streak - three grands prix - since the opening trio of races from the 2018 season and left 73 points separating him and teammate Valtteri Bottas, who was second to him for a sixth race this season.
While Hamilton cannot mathematically tie up championship No6, which would put him within just one of Michael Schumacher’s record, at the next race in Japan it now looks little more than a formality.
But the Briton said: “I try not to think about the championship and it’s one race at a time, one step at a time, and I think that’s what we’e been collectively been working on. Obviously it gets harder and harder as the season goes on.
“Just one step at a time, one foot in front of the other, we don’t want to stumble, of course we’ve got to keep putting on performances like this and I know the bosses back in Stuttgart will be super happy with today.
Having performed something of a smash and grab in Sochi, Hamilton is adamant that Ferrari remain the team to beat on track, saying it had “taken quite a special job from us to come out ahead of them”.
Vettel was forced to retire after earlier defying team orders to let teammate Charles Leclerc past after a pre-race plan for Leclerc to slipstream Vettel into turn one and into the lead in return for handing back the advantage.
Despite that Leclerc graciously said the win was beyond his grasp. He said: “Whether it would have been enough to challenge them or not, I don’t think so because I could not overtake Valtteri and Lewis was quicker than Valtteri.
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