Austrian Grand Prix: History bid 'not in the top 50' of Lewis Hamilton’s priorities

EPA

Lewis Hamilton has no interest in making history this weekend as Mercedes bid for a record-equalling 11th grand prix win in a row in Austria.

The five-time world champion won the last two races of the 2018 season and six out of eight this year, with team-mate Valtteri Bottas winning the remaining two.

Victory would match the record of Ayrton Senna and McLaren team-mate Alain Prost, who won the opening 11 grands prix of the 1988 season.

But Hamilton said the feat was “not anywhere near the top 50 of the list of priorities for me on the race weekend”.

However, he admitted it was an important milestone for his Mercedes team.

“Maybe the engineers have a list of the records and that’s something they take pride in,” he said. “But it is remarkable in the 125th year of Mercedes-Benz history to be a part of helping them break barriers. I’m proud to be part of that.”

The 34-year-old made no apologies for the processional nature of his victory at last weekend’s French Grand Prix, in which he finished 18 seconds clear of Bottas.

Hamilton now 36 points clear at the top.
EPA

However, it may not be so straight forward on Sunday, as Hamilton is wary of the impact that the heatwave in Europe will have on the cars.

He said: “That’s going to be the problem,” he said. “For sure, all the engineers are on the edge of their seats.”

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