F1 Constructors' Championship

'I want to deliver for them!' Hamilton determined to help Mercedes team to second place in the F1 Constructors' Championship

Lewis Hamilton has outlined his determination to help arrest the alarming slide in the form of his Mercedes te combiam as they target second place in the Formula One constructors’ championship.

Thened efforts of Hamilton and teammate Nico Rosberg saw Mercedes amass 136 points in a five race spurt before the summer break, just 10 points shy of Red Bull’s tally.

But in the five races since the summer holidays Mercedes have slipped to fourth in the pecking order behind Lotus and Ferrari while Red Bull have racked up 89 more points than their German rivals.

Back seat: Hamilton wants to help his team even though he can't win the F1 Championship

The net result of that downturn is that Mercedes have slipped to third overall in the constructors’’ championship, 10 points behind Ferrari while resurgent Lotus are snapping at their heels.

Conceding all at Mercedes have their work cut out, Hamilton said: ‘It has been terrible. Usually the second half of my season is stronger. I came back from the summer break fit and healthy but we just weren’t quick enough.

‘For whatever reason the races just haven’t gone well for us. Some maybe down to strategy and some maybe I have put us in the wrong place and lost position. At Monza I should have been way up the front but I messed up in qualifying and that gave us a bad result. It has kind of cascaded from there.

‘It is important for us to address the slide because I know the guys at the factory are dying to have second in the constructors' so I really want to deliver for them.’ 

On top: Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull team top the 2013 Constructors' Championship with 445 points


Catch-up: Kimi Raikkonen (left), Fernando Alonso (middle) and Hamilton haven't kept pace with Vettel 

Speaking after the Japanese Grand Prix, Hamilton claimed he was looking forward to Christmas more than the remaining four races given the drop off in form combined with Sebastian Vettel’s dominance.

But speaking ahead of this weekend’s Indian Grand Prix, Hamilton insisted he intends to savour every moment of his racing career.

He said: ‘When I said Christmas it doesn’t mean I am wishing the days away. I am going to be 29 next year and I am not looking forward to that!

‘This is end of my seventh year so I don’t want to wish the days away because before I know it my career will be over.

‘I don’t want to take the races for granted. I have this four races to come so I am going to cherish them and really try to be the best I can ever be in and see what I can get.’ 

Solo: Hamilton has won just one race in the 2013 F1 World Championship