SUZUKA, Japan, (Reuters) – Lewis Hamilton has vowed to “give it everything” in his pursuit of a fourth Formula One drivers’ title, which slipped further from his grasp following a third-place finish in yesterday’s Japanese Grand Prix.
The Briton’s title hopes were dealt a crushing blow a week ago when he was forced to retire with a fiery engine failure from the lead in Malaysia.
He went into Sunday’s race hoping to revive his flagging championship prospects, but a botched start scuppered his efforts.
Hamilton’s championship-leading Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg completed a ninth win of the season to extend his advantage in the standings to 33 points.
“That’s a healthy margin for Nico, he did a great job, so congrats to him,” said Hamilton, who fought his way back through the field with some spectacular overtaking after his slow getaway from second on the grid saw him plummet to eighth.
“I’ll give it everything I’ve got, as I did in the race and we’ll see what happens.”
Hamilton is a formidable competitor who thrives on adversity and converted a 43-point deficit to Rosberg early in the season into a 19-point advantage with a streak of six wins from seven races.
Even his best, however, may not be enough.
