F1: 'Could Have Made It With One-Stop,' Hamilton Fumes After Japan GP

As Mercedes clinched a historic sixth consecutive constructors' title, their star driver Lewis Hamilton was left with mixed emotions at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.

He finished third, behind winner Valtteri Bottas and Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel.

Championship leader, Hamilton, could have easily sealed the drivers' title in the next race with teammate Bottas remaining his only challenger after the Japan GP. However, after Japan's results, Hamilton needs to outscore his teammate by at least 14 points to wrap up the championship in Mexico ahead of the final three races of the season in America, Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

Hamilton majorly criticized Mercedes for using a two-stop strategy for him when he could have finished the race by pitting just once.

Hamilton's miseries had three parts. Firstly, Mercedes kept Hamilton out on the track for a very long time and his tires deteriorated. He lost 10 seconds.

"The surprise is that, every time you come out, by going long you end up fricking twice as far behind as you were before, which is twice as frustrating. I can’t see that, so I’m not aware of that, and I come out and I realize that I’ve just lost another 10 seconds. I’m like, ‘You could have told me. If you’d said I was going to come out a further 10 seconds behind – I was pretty much 22 seconds behind Valtteri – I would say no and would have come in earlier.’ So there’ll be some discussion I’m sure when we get back," the reigning world champion added.

Secondly, when the Brit made a pit stop on lap 21 of 52, Mercedes made a switch from soft to medium tires. An upset Hamilton has insisted that hard types would have lasted till the end and that could have helped him win, considering both Bottas and Vettel pitted twice.

Hamilton also said he still could have made it till the end with medium tires if he had been told to do so. But, instead, the team ordered him to chase Vettel and not go for the win.

When asked whether he could have reached the end without a second pit stop, Hamilton said, "Just an f----up. With better guidance, I could have made it a one-stop."

The next race is scheduled to be held in Mexico and Hamilton is not expecting to win the title there. "I don’t anticipate I will win the title in Mexico now. We will be battling for a good few races. Mexico is our worst race of the year. It is going to be very hard to beat Ferrari there," Hamilton added.