Hamilton ‘grateful’ for Perez fight against ‘the most dominant car of our era’

Hamilton sits 32 points behind Sergio Perez with just two rounds remaining.

The seven-time world champion has remained in close contention for P2 in the championship but a disqualification at the United States Grand Prix, and a Lap 1 DNF in Qatar, has put it in the Mexican’s favour.

Mercedes started the year in Bahrain as the fourth-fastest team behind Red Bull, Aston Martin and Ferrari, but have slowly made progress throughout the season.

Speaking ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Hamilton conceded he didn’t expect Mercedes to be second in the constructors’ championship or still be in contention for the runner-up spot behind Max Verstappen.

“30 points in two races is… he [Perez] would have to have two disasters and I would have to be second basically,” Hamilton said. “It really doesn’t make any difference if I am second or third. 

“We’ve still had an amazing year given the car we’ve had. We never thought we’d be fighting for second in the constructors’ and knocking on the door of the most dominant car probably of our era. 

“I am just grateful to be where we are. Just having a half decent season, much better than last year.”

Mercedes endured their worst weekend of the season last time out at Interlagos.

While Hamilton feels Las Vegas will be an improvement, he’s unsure how competitive the W14 will be given the long straights.

“Definitely more than the last one,” he added. “Still I think it’s going to be a challenge getting the tyres working this weekend. We’re often not the quickest on the straights so that will be a challenge to see if we can not lose too much on the straights but keep up with everyone in the corners. 

“It’s not the most technical of circuits so hopefully that makes it a little bit easier.”