Hamilton: Vettel respect greater than any other F1 driver

After his victory in the Chinese Grand Prix helped tie him at the top of the championship standings with Vettel, Hamilton is full of enthusiasm for the situation he finds himself in.

And with the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers enjoying a good relationship so far despite the intensity of their fights, Hamilton says he sees no reason why their friendship will suffer – even if there are some pressure points over the campaign.

"I honestly think it will stay the way it is," explained Hamilton. "Who knows, maybe we'll have times where we are racing hard together, and of course there could be that scenario where one of us thinks something is unfair, or has been too aggressive, whatever it may be.

"But we're grown men, we've come a long way, and we've experienced a lot.

"The respect for one another is the highest that I have felt from another driver, especially of his calibre.

"It's amazing sportsmanship: when you win you enjoy it, and you also acknowledge the person next door. And even when you lose it's the same thing. We're both doing that, and that's a great place to be.

"Naturally he wants to kill me out there and beat me, and vice versa, but then outside the car the admiration for the other's achievements and the way that they drive [is there too].

"As I said, he's performing at his best, he is rapid out there, so when I'm able to get ahead, it only compliments you, and vice versa."

After three years of an exclusive title fight between Mercedes teammates, Hamilton says that going up against another team like Ferrari feels special.

He thinks the challenge of taking on a Vettel at his peak, with Ferrari at its strongest for a decade, is something to get really excited about.

When asked by Motorsport.com about whether such a close fight with Ferrari made it more satisfying when he wins, Hamilton said: "It really, really does, it really does, particularly when you're fighting another team.

"The scenario I'm in right now, I'm fighting against a four-time world champion. He is at his best and he is phenomenally quick. And Ferrari are at their best in years, in a decade, pretty much, I think. We're at our best as a team, and I feel like I'm at my best.

"The ultimate fighter always wants to go up against the best battle that he can have, because then when you come out on top, it's just so much more satisfying, you know. So, yeah, I love this fight that we're having."

Outside influence

The one thing that Hamilton hopes doesn't happen is that the title fight gets ruined by outside influences, such as an accident or mechanical failures.

Last year, Hamilton's hopes of beating teammate Nico Rosberg were effectively wrecked by an engine blow-up that stopped him when he was leading the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Hamilton added: "Sitting there with Sebastian we were like, 'this is going to go right down to the end of the season'. And I just hope that, I hope that, for both of us, there's nothing mechanical comes in between our sheer battle through ability.

"I really really hope it's just an out and out fight through stubbornness, through mental stability, through fitness, through composure and all those things. And at times, through just out driving the person on track, you know.

"From a driver's side, winning a championship, that's the ultimate challenge. When other things start playing bigger roles, whether it is safety cars or whether it is mechanical things... that takes away that excitement of what racing's about."