Hamilton: "I truly believe we can win a race this year"

Lewis Hamilton has smelled victory at Silverstone and believes his W13 is now ready to compete with the top. The Briton certainly expects another win this year, but it will be difficult at the upcoming race in Austria.

Hamilton expects Mercedes win in 2022

Mercedes were competitive again at Silverstone after a poor start to the season in which they looked like a shadow of the team they have been in recent years. Hamilton even looked faster than the Ferrari at times and was in contention for victory. According to the seven-time world champion, it has become clear that Mercedes has moved in the right direction and after the strong P3 finish the Briton thinks he can still score a victory this year.

The Briton said opposite BBC.com: "With some more hard work we can hopefully get closer to the chance of a win. I truly believe we will win a race this year." Hamilton reflects on the start of the season. The team were looking at a big deficit from the start. The Briton was unsure if they could ever win another race with the new car: "But that's not how we think at Mercedes."

Two upgrade packages have given the team more insight into the 'faults' of the W13. Mercedes has an exciting season ahead of them with the knowledge they now have. Hamilton: "It is very encouraging. For a long time, we did a lot to the car without seeing what it did or whether it changed anything. We made a good step in Barcelona, but then we had some difficult races. And then came the last two races. There is real potential in the car now."

Austria will be a different story

While Hamilton believes there will be another win for Mercedes this year, it seems a different story in Austria. The team's problems there are more frequent and the competition from Red Bull Racing and Ferrari will also be unforgiving in Spielberg. Hamilton: "In Silverstone, there was definitely potential to win the race. With our current performance, we are not on the same level as the teams before us. We have always struggled in Austria, so it will be difficult to win here. But it is not impossible."