Lewis Hamilton hasn't had it easy in 2017, but after overcoming a significant drivers championship deficit at last weekend's British Grand Prix, he feels like he's at his best. A dominant outing at the driver's home race set him up for success and brought him within one point of rival Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel, and in a report from Motorsport, Hamilton is enjoying racing more than he ever has before.
Early season success launched Vettel ahead in the standings, but Hamilton was able to stay steady in second place. Heat from his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas has kept him on his toes, and since the Finn still sits in third place, Hamilton knows better than to let up. But despite this, Hamilton reinforced his abilities as a 32-year-old veteran.
"All I do know is I'm loving racing, I really, really do feel within myself I'm driving better than I've ever driven," he said. "I think I may have said that in the past, perhaps with less conviction. Within myself, I know that right now I'm at my best."
That's saying a lot, especially since he's won three championships already in his career.
He also pointed out that his car's performance has a lot to do with his success. By bringing the equipment up to par, the Hamilton-Mercedes combo could be onto something with half of the F1 season left.
Support has, perhaps, had an even bigger hand than anything else in Hamilton's recent tear. After racing at Silverstone, Hamilton noted that he felt a certain energy that's unique to his fan base.
"In terms of the energy I get from these fans—there is no other driver that gets this kind of energy anywhere. I really do think it boosts you, just lifts you up. There's no avoiding it."
"Literally from the start of the race, before I even got in the car, I could see the crowd and every time I turned to see them they cheered. I did the start, accelerating down to Turn 3 [Village] and out the corner of my eye I could see the guys cheering."
If the team can keep all of these factors going, Hamilton could very well put Vettel in a hard spot come July 30th at the Hungarian Grand Prix. It will be a deciding race in terms of momentum, something that each of them are seeking heavily.
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