Hamilton: 'I hope we can use that engine later'

Hamilton sees steps in the right direction

The seven-time world champion said this on the Thursday afternoon before the start of the Italian GP weekend. As Hamilton uses his fourth power unit of the season, he will start from the back of the field. Although the changes have not yet been made official by the FIA, it appears from Mercedes' statement that the power unit will be replaced with even more associated parts.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Hamilton said that he expects his W13 to have a good pace in Italy. Therefore a relatively good result for the Briton cannot be ruled out. Hamilton: "I am feeling as good as I can feel. Of course, you'd always feel better if you came in off a win. We are closing the gap more and more. We don't know how good the car will be, if it will be as good as the last race we'll find out".

Mercedes wants to continue growth

At Zandvoort, Mercedes was extremely competitive and strategically the team almost outperformed Red Bull Racing. George Russell eventually finished second, while Hamilton had his sights set on his first win of the season, but only finished fourth. Hamilton hopes to continue the strong line: "I don't think it will be worse than in Spa. I think it will be a lot better here." At Spa, Mercedes lacked pace and to make matters worse, Hamilton recorded a DNF in Belgium after a crash with Fernando Alonso that he caused. Since the crash the engine of the Briton is not in order anymore.

Hamilton: "They are working on my third engine that I used in Spa. So now we have to use a fourth one. That is my own doing. We are hopeful that we can use that engine later on. I have to come back from the back this weekend." If Mercedes can safely get the engine running again then the team would like to use that drive during the free practice sessions of the next Grands Prix. This will allow the team to save the main engine used for qualifying and racing.