Hamilton defends Vettel after latest spin in Bahrain

Lewis Hamilton says that the impact of Sebastian Vettel's recent mistakes on his legacy are "minuscule" compared to the positives gained by his successes at Red Bull and Ferrari. Vettel spun while wheel-to-wheel with Hamilton in Bahrain, ultimately handing victory to the Mercedes man.

Hamilton and Vettel were battling for second place when the German spun out, losing his front wing soon after as his car shook with vibrations.

When Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc suffered engine problems in the lead, Hamilton was in position to strike.

If not in the right place to capitalise, Vettel perhaps should have been ahead of Leclerc, with Ferrari dominating the weekend up to that point, but Hamilton does not read too much into his rival's error, which follows several similar incidents which helped decide last year's title fight between them.

"It's not that it plays on your mind, it happens to all of us," said Hamilton. "Just because you're a four-time champion doesn't mean you're not going to have off-weekends.

"It's more cumulative. If you look at Vettel's career he's had stunning performances that far more outweigh the weaker races, and when he's spun for example, they are minuscule on the status that he's accumulated and created.

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"There are always times where you happen to just not get the right car set-up.

"You guys don't get to see all these little things that we're doing, and it just doesn't happen to work that weekend. And the differences are so small, and yet they look so big."

After Mercedes dominated in Australia, Ferrari were clearly quicker in Bahrain, albeit without being able to convert it into a win and Hamilton was at a loss to explain the swing in pace.

He said: "I don't know why their car was so different in pace, but I remember, looking back on me and Nico [Rosberg], we would be in Barcelona, we were quick in testing, and then there were massive difference in the car in the race, and you're literally just driving with your hands behind your back, and you've got no grip.

"Then another race, it's the other way.

"I don't know why it happens, but today it was one of those for him. But he's a world champion and a great athlete. He will recover and keep pushing."

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