Lewis Hamilton's post-race gloom fades

Published on Monday 27 June 2011 18:22

LEWIS Hamilton came out fighting yesterday - a day after the McLaren driver gloomily declared the Formula 1 title battle almost over - and promised fans he would never give up despite the odds against him.

"To all our supporters, ignore what u read in the papers today," the 2008 world champion declared on his Twitter feed. "My team will never give up & I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!!!!"

Hamilton had been far less feisty after Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel won Sunday's European Grand Prix, the champion and runaway leader's sixth victory in eight races. The German now has a 77-point lead over McLaren's Jenson Button and his own Australian team mate Mark Webber with 11 races remaining. He is 89 ahead of Hamilton.

Hamilton, who finished fourth in the race, had told reporters in the immediate aftermath that "I think it's finished really. In the sense of the championship it's almost over already".

He later expanded on the theme to British reporters in a conversation at the back of the McLaren garage. "I just want to continue finishing races because Sebastian is pretty much gone," he said. "He has pretty much won it really." The next race is the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on 10 July.