Hamilton: Little by little I'm closing in

Lewis Hamilton was never concerned about Sergio Perez pipping him to the win as his claimed his maiden Italian GP crown on Sunday

Putting all the off-track rumours pending him, Hamilton did his talking out on track at Monza this weekend taking pole position in qualifying and following that up with an a smooth victory.

Hamilton led from start to finish, only relinquishing the lead to Sergio Perez when he came in for his only pit stop of the day.

However, it wasn't long before Hamilton was back in front of the Sauber driver, who was a late stopper and put in a massive charge in the final ten laps to move up to second, overtaking both Ferraris.

Asked if he was concerned about Perez's late pace, Hamilton told Sky Sports F1: "I wasn't.

"I had a 14-second gap I think it was - a 14.5-second gap - and he was catching a second a lap at the time I was cruising.

"I tried to just balance that out over the eight laps or so I had left, then he started getting a little bit closer so I switched it on a bit and minimised the amount he was catching me."

Sunday's victory was McLaren's third successive triumph with Hamilton also winning in Germany while Jenson Button took the chequered flag at Spa.

Hamilton, though, is the first to admit that the job is not yet done despite praising his McLaren team for their recent improvements.

"It's incredibly close between us and the Ferraris, and obviously the Saubers were incredibly quick this weekend, but we've done a fantastic job.

"We came with a really good package for the last couple of races and it's been a shame I have not got the maximum I needed to get from the performance that we've had for the last few races.

"But obviously to have two wins in the last three grands prix is good and I hope that we can continue with that pace."

His latest triumph elevated the McLaren driver to second in the Drivers' Championship where he now trails Alonso by just 37 points.

"The gap's been quite big - 40-something points for a while - and the pressure's on in the team and the Championship to close that little by little," he said.

"When I heard that Fernando was second I thought 'how did he get from 10th to second?'

"But then I heard Sergio had passed him and I thought that's good. I was hoping that someone else got past him but nonetheless we still got good results."

Source: Planet-F1