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LONDON, England - Lewis Hamilton believes his Mercedes F1 team is now Red Bull's closest challenger and will be able to mount a sustained bid for title glory through 2013.
A week earlier, at the Malaysian GP, Red Bull was split by Sebastian Vettel's decision to ignore team orders and pass team mate Mark Webber to win. In the same race Hamilton's team mate and friend Nico Rosberg was asked to finish fourth behind him - he obeyed.
'IMPOSSIBLE TASK'
Hamilton said: "We are the second-best team... to be that close - I was competing with the Red Bulls at some stages in the race - and to be in that position is a great feeling."
He said the result might have been different had Mercedes had not been forced to save fuel for most of the contest.
"I was saving fuel from lap 25 and it was an impossible task to challenge those up ahead," he said. "I was fuel-saving at the end like you would not believe: I was coasting everywhere. I'm sure if we were all on the same fuel it would have been a different situation."
Hamilton believed the form shown by Mercedes was proof that the team was now in a position to win. "It proved that if we keep going in the direction we are heading there's a possibility we could win a race."
'LIKE IDIOTS!'
Rosberg was praised by the team's new motorsport boss, Toto Wolff, for setting aside personal interest for the good of the team. Wolff said: "As a racing driver, deep inside him, (Rosberg) is not happy about it but he understands why that call was made. We are all grown-ups. As a race driver you are not happy because you could have gone faster but you also have to bear in mind that it is about the team.
"Imagine the two Red Bulls crashing - you'd look like idiots! - so we took a conservative approach. It was a good call."
Rosberg was told to hold behind Hamilton at Sepang to secure a 3-4 finish but Hamilton admitted his partner deserved a podium finish. Unlike Red Bull, where a furore followed the race, Wolff said he was sure there would be no lingering resentment.
"We sorted it out after the race," he said. "Ross (Brawn, team manager) and I sat down with the drivers and there is no issue any more. I'm really happy that we don't have this problem - that we have two team mates who have a good relationship with each other; that we have Nico who accepted a call that was not satisfying for him.
"We have no controversy in this team."
A week earlier, at the Malaysian GP, Red Bull was split by Sebastian Vettel's decision to ignore team orders and pass team mate Mark Webber to win. In the same race Hamilton's team mate and friend Nico Rosberg was asked to finish fourth behind him - he obeyed.
'IMPOSSIBLE TASK'
Hamilton said: "We are the second-best team... to be that close - I was competing with the Red Bulls at some stages in the race - and to be in that position is a great feeling."
He said the result might have been different had Mercedes had not been forced to save fuel for most of the contest.
"I was saving fuel from lap 25 and it was an impossible task to challenge those up ahead," he said. "I was fuel-saving at the end like you would not believe: I was coasting everywhere. I'm sure if we were all on the same fuel it would have been a different situation."
Hamilton believed the form shown by Mercedes was proof that the team was now in a position to win. "It proved that if we keep going in the direction we are heading there's a possibility we could win a race."
'LIKE IDIOTS!'
Rosberg was praised by the team's new motorsport boss, Toto Wolff, for setting aside personal interest for the good of the team. Wolff said: "As a racing driver, deep inside him, (Rosberg) is not happy about it but he understands why that call was made. We are all grown-ups. As a race driver you are not happy because you could have gone faster but you also have to bear in mind that it is about the team.
"Imagine the two Red Bulls crashing - you'd look like idiots! - so we took a conservative approach. It was a good call."
Rosberg was told to hold behind Hamilton at Sepang to secure a 3-4 finish but Hamilton admitted his partner deserved a podium finish. Unlike Red Bull, where a furore followed the race, Wolff said he was sure there would be no lingering resentment.
"We sorted it out after the race," he said. "Ross (Brawn, team manager) and I sat down with the drivers and there is no issue any more. I'm really happy that we don't have this problem - that we have two team mates who have a good relationship with each other; that we have Nico who accepted a call that was not satisfying for him.
"We have no controversy in this team."