"We’ve always struggled in Austria" - Lewis Hamilton makes honest confession ahead of the 2022 F1 Austrian GP, says it's 'going to be hard to win

Lewis Hamilton believes that the Austrian GP has always been one of the circuits Mercedes have struggled at. However, the encouraging pace of the cars in Silverstone and Barcelona have shown positive signs that the team can win again.

Speaking ahead of the 2022 Austrian GP's visit to the onsite media, the Briton said:

“Coming here, I think we’ve always struggled in Austria, so it’s going to be hard to win here, I think, knowing the combination of corners. But not impossible.

"The weather’s up and down so I’m hoping that we’re pleasantly surprised tomorrow, but I might be wrong. I’ll find out. But I’m staying hopeful and the best thing to do is arrive hopeful and positive and navigate from there.”

The Briton believes it will be difficult to win at the Austrian GP weekend. However, Lewis Hamilton feels the uncertain weather conditions could open a window of opportunity.

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Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes is capable of winning a race this year

The Briton compared his current situation with the car earlier in the season where it was hopeless to think of a potential win. They have made some improvement in pace in Barcelona and two consecutive in Canada and Silverstone. Lewis Hamilton feels motivated to believe that Mercedes can win the race in 2022.

Describing the car and the expectations from it now, the Briton said:

“A long, long way back, earlier this year, I definitely wasn’t sure we’d ever get a win in this car. Obviously that’s not the way we like to think. But it was feeling that, Jesus, it’s a long, long way to catch everybody up, knowing the progress everyone makes.

"For a long, long time we would make changes and not see it do what we [expected] it was going to do, or improve the car.”

On the current performance and signs of improvement, Lewis Hamilton said:

“The team made a good step in Barcelona but then we had several difficult races following it. And then we just had these last two races which were quite strong and that’s really encouraged us that we’re moving in the right direction, that there really is potential in the car.

"With a little bit more digging, a little bit more hard work, we hopefully can get a bit closer to having a chance at winning a race. So I truly believe we can get a race win this year.”

Silverstone was a better indicator of their improved pace and with the number of incidents in the race, a potential win was a realistic expectation.

Nevertheless, the improvements and upgrades on their car have definitely improved their race pace. Their car is now more competitive and closer to Red Bull and Ferrari than in the previous races.