• Italian Grand Prix

Hamilton does about-turn on title chances

Lewis Hamilton: "Obviously that's that for the championship" © Sutton Images

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Minutes after telling reporters his title hopes were as good as over and that he believed Sebastian Vettel would cruise to the title over the remaining seven races of the season, Lewis Hamilton thought better of things and said the championship was still up for grabs.

"Obviously that's that for the championship," Hamilton said in the immediate aftermath of the race. "He's just too quick, too dominant. If we can beat him in the next couple of races and take a few points off him here and there then that would be great, but I think he's got clear sailing from here.The team did a great job and I didn't deliver today. I've got to go away and reset and try to recover in the next race."

But after he cooled down he spoke again. "When I got out of the car I was angry, and definitely thought that would be it. But I've been back with my engineers and I'm not going to give up."

Vettel extended his lead at the top of the championship with another victory at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, while Hamilton struggled to ninth after a troubled weekend at Monza. He is now 83 points adrift of the Red Bull in the drivers' championship.

Hamilton also struggled with a radio malfunction in the race, which he said had made life difficult, especially when he had to pit following a slow puncture.

"It blinds you a little bit. You don't know what's happening in the race, you don't know when to stop. You've got the pit board but that's confusing because it's difficult to pick out your one when you are coming by fast. Knowing when to push, when not to push, when to switch your settings, it's just much more on me and without the extra help it made it trickier."

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