Lewis Hamilton ramps up pressure on Verstappen with Mercedes admission before Brazil GP

Lewis Hamilton has put the pressure on Max Vertsappen by implying Mercedes have done well to be as close to Red Bull as they are this season.

Hamilton trails his rival by 19 points in the title race, but thinks pundits and F1 fans haven’t appreciated what he and his team have been up against.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, Hamilton tols Sky Sports F1: “I think people under appreciate just how well we’ve done considering the pace they’ve had since day one.

“The struggles we had in testing before the season, then just skimming by and winning the first race and then we had a couple of races where, I just don’t think they optimised and probably made more mistakes than they would have liked to.

“I think we’ve done a pretty good job. But at the end of the day we’ve not been as fast as them most of the time.”

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