Hamilton feels ‘no pressure’ in F1 title battle against Verstappen

Hamilton could only recover to finish fifth at the Turkish Grand Prix, while Verstappen was second to move six points clear in the standings.

The seven-time champion was fastest in qualifying at Istanbul Park but a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change put him back to 11th on the grid.

While Hamilton was disappointed to miss out on crucial points in the title race, he was encouraged by teammate Valtteri Bottas’ performance, who beat Verstappen by over 14 seconds.

“I don’t feel any pressure, I feel very chilled,” Hamilton said. “I don’t like losing points but that’s the way it is. I did everything I could this weekend.

“Well, we haven’t done anything to the car. So… I don’t really know why that is the case, I think the two tracks we’ve driven on have maybe suited us a bit more, but the car has been feeling good, it felt great this weekend. 

“Moving forwards hopefully, Valtteri did a great job today, if we can continue to perform like that over the next races it’ll be good for the team, and if the car continues to perform as it has this weekend that’ll be good for us.”

Despite Mercedes’ rumoured reliability gremlins with its power unit, Hamilton doubts he will have to take another grid penalty later in the season.

“I don’t really give any energy to it, it’s not my job to worry about that stuff,” Hamilton added. “I let the guys focus on that, my engine’s in good condition, my first engine I think did 6 races, we still have engine two and I think engine three is still there. 

“As far as I’m aware hopefully I don’t have to but I can’t predict what’s up ahead.”