Hamilton: I don’t give up but winning in Hungary not crucial

No Formula 1 driver has won more times at Hungaroring than Lewis Hamilton, ahead of the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix the Mercedes driver is happy to be a single point behind in the championship standings and does not believe leaving Budapest on Sunday as points leader is crucial to his campaign.

Speaking to the official F1 website, Hamilton said, "I am grateful that we are that close. I came to Silverstone with a 20 point deficit – now it’s shrunk to one single point. And in the past there have been times where I was 50 points down."

"But I don’t give up. True, these days 20 points felt like a decent gap and to reduce it to one is encouraging, but it is not the most important thing leaving Hungary as the leader. Yes, it would be great, but there is still a long, long way to go."

"It just would be a sign that things can shift. Ultimately I will do the best job that I can on Sunday – to make sure that I remain in the title fight – and then let’s wait and see."

Hamilton has momentum on his side, fresh from triumphing on home soil at Silverstone last time out, "I really feel great and excited coming here. It is still buzzing after Silverstone. The Hungarian GP has been a great race for me for many years and Budapest is one of the most beautiful cities."

"I am enjoying it, going into the city and have good food, and also the track is spectacular. The race will for sure be a challenge, knowing that the Friday will be the cooler day opposed to Saturday and Sunday."

"For the Red Bulls this should be a good track for them, as it is not a great power sensitive circuit, so it will be a good race between the top three teams. At the end of the day it is still the driver that makes the difference - at least this is the plan."

"Looking at the last qualifying session in Silverstone, I know that it was not only the good car in place, but also when I came into play. I hope that I am able to extract the fact this weekend even more."

Hamilton has won in Hungary three times as a McLaren driver and twice in silver, "I think this track has been my most successful track, and I hope that this is still the case this weekend. It is also a track that has been a real challenge in regards to the weather ups and downs, but I think this weekend is forecast to stay quite neutral."

"Nevertheless, this track is very hard to overtake, and I think that it will be very close between us and Ferrari, and this is going to be very exciting for the fans," added the Briton.

With regards to his season after ten rounds, Hamilton said, "We would be an 8.8 on a scale of 10, I would say. So there is still some room to improve. For sure Silverstone was the best moment of this season, as it would be very hard to top that."

"It is my home Grand Prix and I do not get to crowd surf anywhere else. Having had my family in Silverstone was really great. They do not really get affected by this Formula One driver status. Of course they do watch the races, but I am still just Lewis to them, and just another member of the family."

"That helps me a lot to stay grounded. And it was really great to share that experience with them. I wanted them to stand on stage with me and feel what I get to feel. We had a great photo, which was a good memory for us," added Hamilton who will be targeting a sixth win in Hungary on Sunday.