Lewis Hamilton to keep up pressure against teammate Nico Rosberg

Lewis Hamilton celebrates after winning the Russian Grand Prix

A healthy lead going into the last three races

British Driver Lewis Hamilton has promised to 'keep turning up the heat' on fellow Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg as the race for the Championship title heats up. The 29-year old is only the fourth driver in history to win nine races in a single season, after winning the inaugural Russian GP on Sunday.

He now has a 17-point lead at the top, behind teammate Nico Rosberg. Hamilton said that there is still scope for improvement, with three races left in the season.

"I like to think l am still growing as a driver, moulding and improving in some areas.“I will improve for these final races and keep turning up the heat”. he said.

“Nico is very close, very fast and doing a great job. I’ll just keep my head down – there’s still three races to go, a long way to go. It’s encouraging to see the result for the team and the performance of the car.” he added.

Hamilton dominated the race in Russia, leading on each of the qualifying segments and finishing first in two of the three practice sessions.

It seemed as if his fellow teammate Rosberg had been diverted by a seat-belt adjustment when he tried to slipstream Hamilton and suffered a flat tyre as a result, in the second corner of the race, thereby being forced to make an emergency pit-stop.

It was pretty straightforward, I was on the inside so it was my corner, but it wasn’t even close to working out. “It was just a mistake on my side. I just braked too late and that’s it. It was definitely do-able and I just messed up. It was very simple, no explanation. I just braked too late and too hard.” The 29-year old German said later.

Hamilton was also impressed with the quick work done by the men in the pit as the former Williams driver went on to finish second in the end, behind him.