Lewis Hamilton believes staying error-free this season has been the main difference between himself and Sebastian Vettel, with the Mercedes now in the driving seat in the championship with six races left.
The Briton has been very consistent in 2017 taking seven wins in 14 races including four of the last five. He has also only a handful of difficult weekends with a worst finishing position of seventh in Monaco.
Any situation where has been off the podium, however, has rarely been his own fault, with an extra pit-stop in Baku for a loose headrest, a gearbox penalty in Austria and a team agreement in Hungary preventing him from finish higher.
Compare that to Vettel who failed to capitalise on Hamilton’s issue in Azerbaijan after being penalised for deliberately bumping his Mercedes behind the Safety Car and then suffering his first retirement of the year last time out in Singapore after being widely considered at fault for a start crash with Max Verstappen and teammate Kimi Raikkonen.
As a result of the events in Marina Bay, Hamilton now leads by 28 points, the largest gap for any driver at any point this year and now, for the triple world champion, remaining mistake-free is part of learning his lessons from missing out on the title to Nico Rosberg in 2016.
“Coming from last year, for example, where there were lots of mistakes, this is a year I try to make sure that, if I’m going to grow anywhere, in any space, that’s going to be it,” Hamilton said during a chat show appearance on ITV.
“The focus on not making any mistakes seems to be working. Ultimately I think it’s important to respect people you’re competing with and he (Vettel) is an incredible athlete and truly one of the best drivers we’ve seen in the sport.
“But it is great to have seen some of the weaknesses come through this year and I’m grateful for this recent one.”
Throughout 2017, Lewis has spoken of how the battle with Vettel has rejuvenated his love and passion for F1, admitting he had considered retirement before with his ambitions off the track.
“I’m loving driving more than ever. I feel like I’m driving better than ever. I feel the most whole as a driver that I’ve ever been, which is a great feeling,” he said.
“I’m enjoying the challenge – the fact we have a balanced car alongside a Ferrari and sometimes a Red Bull, so it’s great to be able to be challenged by another team and really have to play on your qualities and work on your weaknesses.
“But at the end of every season, you always have a think about your future. I set a good five-year plan, but it gets altered every year as you add another year onto it.”
One target that won’t be in his career plan, however, is to stay to try and capture further records, including Michael Schumacher’s seven F1 titles.
“Honestly, I’m working just step by step. It’s hard enough to get these championships won one at a time; it’s hard enough just to get this fourth one,” he said. “Currently, it’s quite clear for me. Who knows if we’re going to get anywhere near Michael? Seven championships – I personally don’t have a desire to chase that.”
