Hamilton: It's gonna be close and it's gonna be tough!

Asked today, during his press conference ahead of the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix weekend, if he was wary of a gruelling battle with Red Bull's Max Verstappen for this year's F1 title, he replied: “I don’t feel like I am more 'wary' than I was at the beginning of the year.

“We knew how good would be at the start. We've obviously seen the speed and their competitiveness in the past. Of course, as we've got through the season, they've got stronger and stronger.

"It's been harder for us as we’ve gone on, we've had a bit of a difficult patch but we got back to operating how we have done in the past," explained the World Champ.

Nevertheless, the last two races before the summer break have been decisive in that Verstappen came off second best at Silverstone and Hungaroring, which allowed Hamilton to go on vacation top of the points and not chasing as he had been doing before that.

He now leads by eight points going into the twelfth round on Sunday at Spa-Francorchamps. Lady Luck appears to have chosen sides during the first half of the season and Max was clearly not on her good side, or at least not as much as she has been for Lewis.

While Hamilton rightfully trumpets the fightback from everyone at the Mercedes factory, he also pointed to the reality of the forthcoming battle: "It's going to be close. and t's going to be tough this second half of the season.

"The first half was definitely one of the toughest and I expect it's going to be pretty much the same in the second half, if not more difficult.”

For Hamilton this year the big difference is that the enemy is no longer within Mercedes as in Rosberg's case, but rather Red Bull and their ace Max Verstappen.

To the Briton, this makes scant in terms of commitment: "Exactly the same... if I'm really honest, whether you're fighting your teammate or another team, I would say in terms of how much you need to dig."

But acknowledged: "It's a different journey that you go on when it's internal, the journey you go on with a smaller group of people within your own team, as opposed to a whole team fighting another team. It's a much better dynamic, a much more enjoyable journey.”

Apart from wanting to extend his F1 points lead for this campaign this weekend in Belgium. Hamilton is seeking his 100 Grand Prix victory in the top flight.

Interestingly, of the current drivers on the grid Hamilton has four victories at Spa, as does 2007 F1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen. Jim Clark also won their on four occasions

A win on Sunday would be his fifth at the fabled venue and will put Lewis tied third on the list of all-time winners with Ayrton Senna on five and Michael Schumacher with six victories there. (Additional Reporting by Agnes Carlier)