Lewis Hamilton intends to “keep his head down” and focus purely on winning the four remaining races after taking a huge step towards a fourth world championship at Suzuka.
Pole-sitter Hamilton held off Max Verstappen to pick up maximum points, but chief title rival Sebastian Vettel was forced to retire for the second time in three races.
The Briton now leads by a whopping 59 points with only 100 more available and can clinch the title in the USA if he wins and Vettel finishes fifth or lower.
“I just have to keep my head down and keep doing what I’ve been doing,” he stressed. “There are still 100 points available. We’ve still got to win the next four races.”
As Vettel’s season has dramatically unravelled, Hamilton has hit top form, winning four of the five races since the summer break.
“Is it a purple patch? A golden patch maybe,” he said. “It’s definitely been a great second half of the season. An incredible performance from the team.”
“I could only have dreamed of having this kind of gap. Ferrari has put on such a great challenge all season long. My team have done a great job. They are so meticulous and that is why we have the reliability we are having.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was keen to point out that reliability is crucial to success, but is refusing to get carried away.
“This is a sport where you take no prisoners and reliability is part of making it to the end and we have been there in the last few years,” the Austrian said. “We just need to collect the points but I can relate to how it feels for Ferrari and it is certainly not very nice.
“It is not over until it’s over. We have seen with Sebastian’s misfortune how quickly you can lose points. It is all about finishing the races. There are 100 points left. We just need to look one race weekend after the other and score.
“Austin can be a solid step towards the championship but we won’t be counting our chickens until it’s done.”
