Hamilton says the opportunity is there for record F1 title bid

SPIELBERG, Austria, June 25 : Lewis Hamilton said the opportunity exists for him to win a record eighth Formula One title and he knows what to do.

The 41-year-old Briton is on a roll after taking his first win with Ferrari in Spain this month, following two successive second-place finishes, and is second in the championship to Mercedes's Kimi Antonelli.

The 41-point gap is still significant but Hamilton, Formula One's most successful driver who won six of his titles with Mercedes, was not ruling out anything.

"I think the opportunity is there but it’s one thing being there and it’s another thing galvanising the troops and developing," he told reporters on Thursday.

"You can hit plateaux in terms of development, so all we can do is take it one day at a time and all we can do is really continue to bring everything."

Ferrari have their first engine upgrade of the season for the eighth round in Austria this weekend, a development which could help to reduce the gap at the top.

"It’s a step, not the whole gap, but it’s a step. It’s one foot forwards, which I’m really proud and thankful for," said Hamilton, whose previous employers have won the first six races of the campaign and started all seven grands prix on pole position.

"Mercedes are the team to beat... they’ve been just incredible this year; a great car, an amazing team, a world championship team.

"So, we have a real battle on our hands, and it’s going to take everyone for the rest of the year to even come close to competing with them but I don’t think it’s impossible.”

Hamilton, whose first title was with McLaren in 2008 and last with Mercedes in 2020, said experience would also play a part.

"In terms of the championship... I’ve been here before. I know what I have to do and there’s a long way to go," he said.

"We’re not arriving at this weekend thinking about the championship, we’re thinking about this weekend, executing the best we can."