Hamilton says 2019 is one of F1's best years

Lewis Hamilton says the Formula 1 field is at its highest level for many years in 2019, despite his unstoppable march to a sixth world championship.

Hamilton secured his ninth win of the season at the Russian Grand Prix, capitalising on a favourable VSC to get the better of Charles Leclerc after his Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel had retired.

It was Hamilton and Mercedes' first win since Hungary, with Ferrari having won all three races following the summer break.

Team-mate Valtteri Bottas enjoyed a fine start to the campaign, winning two of the first four races, while Max Verstappen enjoyed a similar hot streak between Austria and Hungary and, although Hamilton's consistency has gone unmatched, he remains impressed with the competition.

"What's really impressive is just to see how naturally we're fighting against the Ferraris who have got great pace," Hamilton said

"But Charles, Valtteri, Seb, Max, Carlos [Sainz], some of the other drivers are really performing so well.

"I think it's one of the best years I've seen the drivers perform in terms of just class performances, so it's meaning that everyone is having to raise their bar including myself.

"I'm enjoying that challenge and as I said, just one race at a time. The next one is going to be super hard to keep… to trying to beat these guys again but not impossible as we've shown."

Mercedes will win a sixth-consecutive constructors' championship with a one-two finish in Japan next time out, while a strong result in Suzuka can set up Hamilton to win the drivers' title in Mexico for a third year in a row.

"I just don't try to think about it," Hamilton said of his increasingly imminent coronation.

"It's not that it's difficult, it's pretty easy just to focus on the task in hand and it's not easy at the moment so honestly just focusing on trying to be the best I can be each weekend, one race at a time and making sure I'm just delivering at a high rate."

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