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Vettel won't run away with title - Hamilton

ESPN Staff
April 25, 2013 « Mercedes to switch half its workforce to 2014 car by May | Pirelli makes changes to hard compound tyre »
Lewis Hamilton: "Seb always seems to win in Bahrain, so that was no real surprise for us" © Sutton Images
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Lewis Hamilton does not think Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel will run away with the championship this season.

Vettel is chasing his fourth consecutive title this year and has already won two of the first four races this season. After winning in Bahrain last weekend, he now holds a ten point advantage over Kimi Raikkonen and a 27 point lead over Hamilton, but the Mercedes driver believes the Red Bull has shown signs of weakness.

"Seb always seems to win in Bahrain, so that was no real surprise for us," he was quoted by the Sun. "I don't think it will be the same for Seb in all the races plus Red Bull have seemed to struggle in some qualifying sessions."

With hot conditions and high levels of rear tyre wear, Hamilton believes Bahrain was one of the most difficult venues for Mercedes this year.

"The Bahrain Grand Prix could turn out to be one of the worst grands prix for us because we had a lot of problems with the car," he said. "We were on the back foot all weekend, so to come away with a fifth place when I started in ninth, was really pleasing.

"I turned a negative into a positive and now had two thirds and two fifths. When I was joining a new team, I thought it would be a lot worse than that."

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