Britain’s Lewis Hamilton unsure whether he can re-find title-winning magic after Nico Rosberg triumphs in Singapore
Three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton refused to make any grandiose predictions for the remainder of the season after witnessing rival Nico Rosberg regain top-spot in the drivers’ championship with victory in the Singapore Grand Prix.
Rosberg fended off a late challenge from Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo to seal a hat-trick of wins and march eight points clear in the title race with six races to go.
“The next race will tell,” said a downbeat Hamilton when asked whether the manner of his defeat was a one-off. “We have six races left, so I’ve just got to keep pushing in those six races.
“Nico did an exceptional job this weekend and we didn’t. What is it going to take for the momentum to change? Just some good weekends which we’ve had in the past.
“We’re both fiercely competitive. Some weekends he does great, some weekends I do great.”
After qualifying 0.7 seconds slower than Mercedes team-mates Rosberg, Hamilton – the Briton had won six out of seven races heading into the summer break – failed to make much headway in the race. The adoption of a three-stop strategy saw the 31-year-old usurp Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, a policy replicated Ricciardo which almost saw him catch Rosberg.