Hamilton praises Red Bull's season: 'They've been phenomenal all year long'

Lewis Hamilton was able to find his way onto the podium in Singapore, but the shock to many was seeing no Red Bull drivers' there. In the press conference for the Japanese Grand Prix, Hamilton shared his thoughts on their performance last weekend, but also explained how he believes they'll fly around Suzuka on Saturday and Sunday.

"I have no clue," Hamilton explains when asked if Red Bull would be back this weekend, "I would think that if they're not 30 seconds ahead like they have done in the past, then something's up."

He then went on to add how, no matter what their performance was last weekend, Red Bull should have their pace back to normal in Suzuka, whilst also praising the work they've done all year: "I think that as Checo said, it was obviously a difficult weekend in Singapore, but that car should be phenomenal here. They've been phenomenal all year long. They've aced pretty much every circuit. It's going to be great to watch that car in general."

Hamilton hopeful of small gap between Mercedes and Red Bull

To round off, the Brit continued to praise Red Bull's excellent work this year, but also expressed his desire to be close to Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez when it comes to qualifying and the race. He said: "Normally, you would come here and it's beautiful to watch their laps. The whole team as a whole and the drivers are doing an amazing job with the package they have, it'll be interesting to see how the weekend goes. I hope we'll be closer and I hope they're not as fast as the 30-second gap they've had in the past."