Hamilton better than ever in 2018 Vettel fight, says Wolff

Lewis Hamilton is "more complete than ever before" as he closes in on his fifth world championship, according to Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. Hamilton has won four races on the spin, and adding a fifth at the United States Grand Prix this week could see him beat Sebastian Vettel to another crown.

Hamilton will match the great Juan Manuel Fangio with a fifth drivers' title if he outscores Vettel by eight points across the final four races of 2018.

Mercedes have not always had the fastest car this year, but Hamilton still picked up crucial victories when Ferrari and Vettel held the pace advantage.

Mercedes head to Austin, where they have only failed to win once, on the back of dominant performances in Russia and Japan, putting Wolff in confident mood before arriving at the Circuit of the Americas.

"Two 1-2s in a row also show how well both drivers are performing," Wolff said.

“Being able to go head-to-head with the guy you’re competing with and see who brakes earliest, is the ultimate challenge of your mental stability under that pressure. I always welcome that.”

- @LewisHamilton #MondayMotivation #F1 pic.twitter.com/rPNsIbw95U — Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) October 15, 2018

"With six race victories in the last seven races, Lewis has shown what a class act he is.

"Both on and off the track he is more complete than ever before, showing commanding performance in the car and challenging the entire team to perform to higher levels at the same time.

Bottas has played his part in Mercedes' late-season surge, although had victory taken away from him in Sochi when Mercedes ordered him to let Hamilton win, and Wolff says the Finn retains the full backing of the team.

He said: "Valtteri had some tough races in the summer, but came back strong in recent weeks.

"He was competitive in both Sochi and Suzuka and embodied our team spirit. We're lucky to have this driver line-up and we know can count on them as the season comes to its close."

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