Hamilton: I'm doing alright but I always feel like I can improve

He has raised his game to greater heights time and time again from his headline-grabbing season as a rookie back in 2007 and now, as he firmly put the lid on his teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Many believed the Finn had taken a step closer to his teammate this year when Bottas 2.0 apparently broke cover this season. he will have to up the version to 3.0 if he stands a chance of clearing that three-tenths of a second deficit to his teammate that just won't go away. And that's without Hammertime!

Eight races down the road, Hamilton has won six and Bottas two with the Briton warning ominously that there is more to come, in other the words: he still rises!

Opening up to Sky F1 ahead of the weekend in Spielberg, Hamilton said, "I'm doing alright but I always feel like I can improve. I think last year I got to a really, really good place and then starting back into a new car each year there's still always a massive hill you have to climb.

"I definitely struggled with understanding these tyres as I do every year, but it's slowly starting to come towards me and back to where I was towards the end of last year in a really happy, comfortable spot. And I feel like I'm a better driver than I was last year through the experiences that each year brings."

"I'm working towards being in my best place performance wise, and mentally, in my career, but it's always a work in progress."

Mercedes have had a dominant car for the past half decade, which Hamilton has milked to bag four F1 world titles for the three-pointed star. Invariably the dominance of their package over the years has helped the cause.

The World Champion team and their driver attract a great deal of criticism for dominating the way they do, with some claiming it is all too easy for Hamilton.

But he is not perturbed by the negativity the remarkable success has spawned, "I don't really care, necessarily... And I don't mean that in a negative way, everyone has a right to their own opinions."

As for the fast-approaching reality of breaking the incredible records of F1 legend Michael Schumacher, Hamilton repeated what he has stated before, "It doesn't dictate to me whether I'm doing a good or bad job, I know that and I know how I'm performing and if I've got more potential in myself. I'm definitely enjoying driving."

"It's a difficult sport for people to have the correct answer for that because there's only 20 of us who are driving these cars and no one else can really have the privilege of driving the car like we drive the car," he added.

"I sometimes go and play basketball, get a swoosh and feel like LeBron (James) for a second, or Steph Curry. Or sometimes I play tennis with my dad, and I'm terrible, but if I get it right over the net and in the corner, I feel like Roger Federer."

"You can't get in a F1 car and do a lap like I did a lap and say, 'that's how Lewis did it'. It's a little bit harder to relate to and to see the nuances and the differences and the edge that we're in. But there are people that admire it," concluded Hamilton.

https://www.grandprix247.com/2019/06/28/hamilton-breaking-records-is-not-on-my-list-of-priorities/