Hamilton disappointed with Vettel's stalling title fight

Lewis Hamilton suggested he is disappointed to see the title race unlikely to go down to the wire in 2018 after victory at the Japanese Grand Prix, combined with a miserable weekend for Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari, put a fifth world crown in reach of the Mercedes man.

Hamilton will head to the United States Grand Prix in two weeks' time knowing a win will crown him, as long as Vettel does not follow him home in second. The Brit certainly has the requisite form, having won at the Circuit of the Americas every year in the V6 Hybrid era.

Although Hamilton has won six of the last seven races to surge clear, many of them have come against the odds, with Ferrari entering the German, Hungarian, Italian and Singapore Grands Prix as favourites, only for errors on the track and pit wall to undermine them and hand the Silver Arrows' chances that they have not wasted.

Hamilton pinpointed his win in Italy from third on the grid as a memorable battle from the campaign so far and says it is "unfortunate" that he has seemingly won the war so early.

"When we were having the race like Monza - for me, I loved that race," he said.

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"I would've been happy to have had that every race following that. I honestly thought that we were going to have that.

"I thought that was how it was going to be, being that they were so strong at the previous two races. But they just lost a lot of performance, and then it's been obviously a little bit difficult for them. Of course I would love to have the race right to the end.

"Every single race I want battles like Monza and like the other ones that have been like that.

"Those are the races that I love, and I would welcome them more and more, but unfortunately it just isn't the case. I can't let that take away from the great job that we're doing and from our happiness."

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