Motorsport: Hamilton backs Vettel to equal F1 record

Sebastian Vettel has won five races on the trot - including at Singapore and Japan. Photo / AP

British driver 'willing to bet' German ace will win last four races and match Ascari's run from 1952-53 seasons

Such are the blows that Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull keep raining down on their rivals, it appears they have now bludgeoned them into submission even before they get into their racing cars.

In a frank admission that had his PR handler looking a little alarmed, Lewis Hamilton said he was "willing to bet" on Vettel equalling one of the oldest records in the sport, Alberto Ascari's run of nine successive victories, by winning each of the remaining four races this year.

Dismissing his own chances of another win this year, Hamilton predicted in the wake of his retirement in Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix that only reliability issues could prevent the 26-year-old German completing a historic clean sweep from the August break all the way through to the final race in Brazil next month.

"We have stopped developing the [2013] car and Red Bull are a long way ahead," Hamilton said of his own prospects. "It is not going to happen, but we can get some solid points and I think we can get back on the podium. I think we can recover second in the constructors' championship [Mercedes trail Ferrari by 10 points]."

Then, in an admission that had his Mercedes communications manager mumbling about sporting codes of ethics and words that ought not to be taken literally, Hamilton added that he had no doubt whatsoever that Vettel would equal Ascari's record, set across the 1952-53 seasons, as well as tie Michael Schumacher's record of 13 victories in a single season.

"If he doesn't have any reliability issues, I am willing to put money on it," the 2008 world champion said. It was as powerful a reminder as any of the power that Red Bull wield.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was hardly playing down Vettel's chances either, describing the 26-year-old's form as "supreme", although he said that it would be nice to see Mark Webber take one final victory before he quits F1 for sports cars next season. "Sebastian has won every race since the summer break," Horner said. "There are still four to go and we will try to cary this momentum into the last four. We couldn't have imagined he would have this run of success but the way he is driving is quite supreme. Mark got pretty close [in Japan] and it would be great to see him win a race before the end of the year."

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Horner added that running such a well-oiled race team would "probably be easy" compared with fatherhood, his biggest scare of last week coming in the shape of his first child, Olivia, who had to be delivered early while he was looking into making a 24,000km round trip back to the UK to be by his partner Beverley's side.

"My plan was to get back on Monday morning at 8am and for the child to be delivered by midday," Horner said. "But I spoke to Beverley on Tuesday and she didn't feel so good.

"She had an appointment with the doctor and they checked her blood pressure and said it was a bit high. They were a bit worried about pre-eclampsia. So she then rang me and said they are looking to do this on Thursday, you'd better look at getting a flight back.

"So as I'm looking at flights she then rang and said: 'Actually, they have just done another test and they want to do this in an hour'. I spoke to the doctors and said 'Just get on with it - make sure they are both safe'.

"Olivia arrived about 3.30am Tokyo time. We went out for some karaoke on Wednesday and wetted the baby's head. It has been a busy week, that's for sure, and it just shows that you can't plan everything in life. I think fatherhood will probably be my biggest challenge. Running a Formula One team will be easy by comparison."

It helps when your rivals have conceded defeat before they have stepped into their cars.

Formula 1 drivers' championship

1. Sebastian Vettel (GER), Red Bull297
2. Fernando Alonso (SPA), Ferrari207
3. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN), Lotus177
4. Lewis Hamilton (GBR), Mercedes161
5. Mark Webber (AUS), Red Bull148
6. Nico Rosberg (GER), Mercedes126
7. Felipe Massa (BRA), Ferrari90
8. Romain Grosjean (FRA), Lotus87
9. Jenson Button (GBR), McLaren60
10. Nico Hulkenberg (GER), Sauber39