Had to raise the bar against Vettel: Hamilton

London Dec 24 (IANS) Four-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton said the 2017 season was a key year for him and he worked hard to raise the bar against arch-rival and Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel.

The 32-year-old Hamilton who races for Mercedes-Amg -- finished the 2017 Formula One season at the top with 363 points ahead of four-time world championship holder Vettel -- who ended the year with 317 marks.

"My whole mindset was there s a four-time world champion we re competing against " he was quoted as saying by Sky Sports on Saturday.

"There s no one else in my view or in my mirrors it s just him and it s going to take everything to extract everything from the car weekend in weekend out.

"If I don t he will and also he s going to be consistent because he s a four-time world champion so I ve got to be even better and try to raise the bar every time " Hamilton added.

Hamilton who holds the record for highest pole positions (72) -- said he was assured from the beginning of doing well in the 2017 season.

"I would say I was more assured of myself this year. I think that comes from a lot of different things. Getting older. Confidence in your work ethic relationships with the guys you re working with " the 2 610 career points holder said.

"We had a bullet-proof plan and structure of how we were doing things a new resurfaced positive energy in the team that hadn t been there for a while. Plus we were fighting another team so we were super encouraged to go that extra distance " Hamilton added.

--IANS
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