Lewis Hamilton fears F1 title lead is under threat because Mercedes 'can't compete' with Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton believes his Mercedes team cannot compete with Ferrari and fears his championship lead is under threat.

Hamilton finished fourth as Sebastian Vettel picked up his first win of the season to lead home a Ferrari one-two at the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Briton still comfortably leads the championship by 65 points with six races to go but he said: “Clearly their [Ferrari’s] car works really well everywhere now so it’s going to be hard to beat them. They are so quick on the straights. We can’t compete with them on the straights.

“We’ve just got to stop dragging our feet. We’ve just got to re-huddle, get back together, work hard and move forwards.

“We were doing such a great job at the beginning of the year and we have this gap but this gap can easily go. I’m under no illusions, my gap in the championship — it’s not won yet. We’ve got to step it up.”

Ferrari will now be looking to secure a fourth straight win of the season at Russia this weekend.