McLaren's Lewis Hamilton is now 89 points behind Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in the drivers' standings.Lewis Hamilton rues his poor start to Sunday's European Grand PrixThe British driver also admits it's going to be tough to catch Sebastian VettelHamilton is currently fourth in the drivers' standings, 89 points behind VettelThe German says he enjoyed a 'faultless' weekend in Valencia
Lewis Hamilton has rued the poor start he made to Sunday's European Grand Prix and conceded Sebastian Vettel is now the overwhelming favorite to claim the Formula One world title.
The McLaren driver, 26, began the Valencia race third on the grid, but the 2008 world champion was overtaken by the Ferrari duo of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa off the line and could only manage a fourth place finish.
It was Vettel's sixth win from eight races so far this season and the reigning title holder is now 77 points ahead of McLaren's Jenson Button and his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber, who are currently tied for second.
Hamilton is 12 points further back in fourth position and he admitted the British team lacked the performance necessary to compete.
"Twelve points is a decent haul after the last two races," Hamilton, who crashed out of the Canadian Grand Prix, said in an official McLaren press release.
We can't beat the Red Bulls right now, we just can't--Lewis Hamilton
"So I can't really complain. However, in terms of performance, we weren't as quick today as we've been in the last three races."
Turning his attention to the Red Bull team, Hamilton admitted it is going to be difficult to reel in the 2010 constructors' champions.
"We can't beat the Red Bulls right now. We just can't. They would need to fall off the track for me to beat them.
"There was over a second per lap difference today. That is just ridiculous," he was reported as saying by British newspaper The Guardian.
"We're not giving up. I'm just being realistic. The fact is there are almost 100 points between me and Sebastian. And they finished 50 seconds or something ahead of us today."
Vettel, 23, is the first driver to finish in the top two of the opening eight rounds of the season and the German said his victory on the street circuit was particularly satisfying.
"From the outside, I'm not sure if it seemed that much was happening in the race," Vettel told the sport's official web site. "But I enjoy it so much when it's between you and the car on every single lap.
"I enjoy this track a lot, last year I had a very smooth weekend here and again this year too. It's fantastic, the team has done a phenomenal job preparing the car.
"Even though we come here every year and think it may be tricky for us, as there are no real fast corners, we managed to come here and have a faultless weekend. I'm obviously very happy with the result."
The British Grand Prix is the next stop on Formula One's world tour, with the Silverstone race set to take place on July 10.
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