Hungarian GP: Hamilton Says 'Small Mistakes' Will Decide Title Battle With Vettel

Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel are the two main contenders for the 2018 Formula 1 Drivers’ title with the lead changing hands on more than one occasion since the start of the campaign.

The season is 11 races old with the 12th coming up Sunday at the Hungaroring in Budapest, Hungary. Hamilton is currently leading the championship standings from Vettel by 17 points – the biggest lead one has had this season.

The Mercedes driver was eight points behind Vettel going into the German Grand Prix last Sunday, but moved ahead after a costly error and crash by the Ferrari driver. Vettel’s exit presented Hamilton a chance to win the race despite starting the race in 14th place.

The Ferrari driver immediately owned up to his mistake and admitted it could be a significant one in terms of the championship race. Hamilton is the favorite now despite there being another 10 races to run until the end of the season.

The Mercedes driver admitted the championship race could hinge on the driver making the least amount of mistakes and at the moment it is Vettel who has succumbed to driver errors — first in France when he crashed into Valtteri Bottas on the opening lap and then in Germany when he threw away a sure shot victory.

"The smallest mistakes are even more costly so there's more pressure on that," Hamilton told reporters on Thursday, as per Sky Sports.

Hamilton defended Vettel, when asked about his main rival’s crash in Germany and admitted he works hard on the mental and physical side to ensure he is not prone to mistakes when the pressure intensifies.

"Nobody's perfect," the Briton added. "Under this pressure, I really work hard to position myself mentally and physically [so] that I'm the last to crack. That's really my mentality."

Hamilton, meanwhile, is aware that Mercedes will have their hands full this weekend at the Hungarian Gran Prix as they look to extend their advantage over Ferrari. The Hungaroring is not a circuit that favors the reigning champions — it is a high downforce circuit — but their main rivals Ferrari and Red Bull Racing are more comfortable as they have a better chassis compared to Mercedes.

Vettel won the race in 2017, but Hamilton expects it to be a close battle with many suggesting that the Red Bull’s will be the favorite this weekend as the characteristics are similar to Monaco where Daniel Ricciardo won.

"Our car likes the open road,” Hamilton said. “This weekend is going to be the same challenge as every single year.”

"It's not a power circuit, you've got the Red Bulls that are often closer. You've got the Ferraris which were quickest here last year and it's going to be probably the same thing this weekend.

"Ultimately we're going to try our hardest to improve on that and hope that our car is better in this type of circuit. I think this might be the second-hardest circuit to overtake and it's the second-tightest maybe,” the four-time world champion explained.