Lewis Hamilton thinks so.
He feels the team has “given up a lot of points” in the title battle in the Formula 1 against Ferrari.
The Hungary GP saw the gap between Vettel and Hamilton grows by 14 points after Vettel won the race.
Although Hamilton has won as many races as Vettel, a headrest problem in Baku and a gearbox grid penalty in Austria have cost Hamilton to trail behind his German rival. He also lost points in Russia, Monaco and Hungary races.
Speaking in Hungary, Hamilton said, “We’ve given up a lot of points to this point today. I think Ferrari have given up a lot less as a team. But we just hope that we don’t give up any more points moving forwards.”
So why didn’t Mercedes W08 bring the fight to the Italian team on one-lap pace at the Hungary GP? “I don’t know why we were off pace in qualifying compared to the Ferraris this weekend. Whether or not that will continue in the next race I’ve got no idea.” said the Brit.
“I don’t know whether they’ve got an upgrade. I’m not aware of that. Time will tell. Hopefully we’ll go to circuits like Spa and it will be a bit more like Silverstone [where Mercedes scored a 1-2].”
He admitted that the first half of the season has been mentally exhausting for the whole team and felt the break came at the right time.
“I definitely think it’s come at a good time,” he said. “I would say it’s definitely been very tough, physically, mentally and emotionally for everyone in the team, but I can only really speak on my behalf. It’s definitely been a difficult season up to now.
“This break, I think, will be very good for everyone to spend some time with family and whatever they do – recharge and come back hopefully fresh.
“I truly believe that we have the capability of winning this championship, but it’s going to take absolutely 100 percent of everyone’s effort to pull it off.
“I can just encourage my team to come back strong and I’ll try to come back even stronger.”
