Hamilton to hunt down 'stronger' rivals Alonso, Raikkonen, Vettel 'one by one'

Mercedes ace Lewis Hamilton has said that he will hunt down one by one the trio of drivers, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, who stand before him in the race for the Formula One world championship.

According to the Guardian, Hamilton, who is 48 points behind championship leader Vettel, was speaking before Friday's practice sessions, which put a dent in his immediate hopes as he finished 12th and 15th in the two runs.

Ahead of Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, Hamilton said that as he is fourth in the race now, he needs to leapfrog Alonso, Raikkonen and Vettel, who are ahead of him given their consistency, especially Raikkonen's, for which he added that he is hunting them down one by one to overtake them.

The 2008 champion, who won the Hungarian GP almost a month ago, further said that Mercedes need to be constantly gaining on the Vettel-powered Red Bull as despite their competitiveness, the side has not been the strongest at this track for a while which gives Mercedes a chance to move ahead in the race.

Although the Brit admitted that he is struggling with his car unlike the last race, he however, said that he is still hopeful, as he believes that his car can be improved by refining its set-up.