Hamilton: 'Really important' to win in Spa and Monza

SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium -- Lewis Hamilton says wins at the next two races will be important if he is to beat Sebastian Vettel to this year's title.

Ahead of the summer break, Vettel extended his championship lead to 14 points with victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix while Hamilton dropped points with a fourth place finish. The season got back underway on Friday with practice ahead of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix and Hamilton made a strong start by setting the fastest time of the day, which he hopes he can convert into victory on Sunday.

"I wanted to come back from the break and hit the ground running, which I have today and I want make sure I transfer that into 25 points [in Spa] and 25 points [in Monza]," he said. "It's really important that I get these two wins, important for me personally, to really reinstate my fight for the championship.

"It's hard to do because Ferrari were very fast on the long runs today and they seem as fast on the shorter runs, but it will be interesting to see where they stand tomorrow."

Asked if Mercedes had an advantage over Ferrari after Friday's running, he added: "I don't think so. I think Ferrari never show their hand on a Friday. They are always generally a bit slower and then on generally the next day they turn their engine up. I think today they looked quick and they were only a tenth or two off in P2 and they were faster on the long run."

Author: Laurence Edmondson, ESPN UK
Source: http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/20457271/hamilton-really-important-win-spa-monza