Hamilton: "Max has done a great job these past few weeks"

Lewis Hamilton starts the second race weekend in Austria with a deficit. He will have to make up 18 points from Max Verstappen to level the championship standings and is working harder than ever to find improvement

After the Styrian Grand Prix he was not too hopeful about his chances this weekend, but Hamilton says he remains positive. "I have a positive attitude, trying to find out where we can still make steps with the car. That's what I've been spending my energy on," he replied when asked what he has been doing on his days off.

Hamilton has to make up ground

After the Styrian Grand Prix, Toto Wolff claimed that Mercedes had halted the development of the car for this season, a statement that seemed to surprise Hamilton. However, afterwards, Mercedes CTO James Allison denied this. "I knew that upgrade was coming," said the Mercedes driver.

How does the seven-time world champion rate his title chances at the moment? "Max has done a great job these past few weeks, they are a small step ahead of us. We are working hard to see if we can close that gap. The season is not half over yet, so we will keep working hard for this title," Hamilton said.