Hamilton vows to bounce back from S'pore disappointment
Lewis Hamilton unleashed everything he had in his arsenal last night to stop Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg from retaking the championship lead, but it came to naught in the end.
The Englishman ended the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix just as he started it: Third behind race winner Rosberg and Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.
From a two-point lead before the night race at the Marina Bay street circuit, he now trails the German by eight points.
There was a hint of sarcasm at the post-race press conference that he was not at the top step and had to settle for third.
"No, I am not disappointed at all, definitely not," Hamilton told the media.
"But first of all, big congratulations to Nico, he drove fantastically well all weekend and fully deserved the win.
"Very tough day today, as always it is here in Singapore.
"This weekend has just been a bit of a tricky one for me, but I'm still glad I could get back up on the podium and get some points for the team."
Hamilton endured a difficult weekend.
During Friday's practice he was forced to miss almost the entire session because of a faulty hydraulic valve.
It cost him the necessary set-ups to fight for pole during Saturday's qualifying.
When team engineers ordered him to go easy on his brakes as he was pushing to catch the two frontrunners in last night's race, he shot back: "Is the other car (Rosberg's) having the same problems?"
It smacked of the accusations early in the season when he struggled while Rosberg won the first four races.
But Hamilton said he was struggling with his brakes as they were overheating and he had to slow down.
"I was just looking at different ways to try and get them back under control," said the defending world champion.
"Eventually once I did my second or third stop, all of a sudden my brakes were under control.
"But of course, towards the end I still got a bit of heat in them.
"I have a lot of support here this weekend and I just want to say a big thanks to everyone for coming out and we'll keep pushing."
With six races left in the championship, the title battle is expected to go down the wire.
The next race is in Malaysia in two weeks' time, and asked if he expects to get a better car, the 31-year-old said: "We have a good car. We've got to have a good weekend (in Malaysia).
"We've closed the gap from 43 points earlier this year, so theoretically the margin of eight points isn't anywhere near as steep as that.
"But still, Nico's been performing fantastically well.
"This weekend he's done an amazing job.
"I expect him to continue like that so I've got make sure that I do the same."
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