Lewis Hamilton issues 'aggressive' threat in Lando Norris pursuit

Lewis Hamilton has expressed his desire to be "racy" at the start of the Mexico City Grand Prix, as he looks to claim his first podium for Ferrari.

Since joining the Scuderia at the start of the campaign, the seven-time F1 drivers' champion has only finished in the top three on two occasions.

However, both occurrences have been in sprints, when he won in China and finished third in Miami.

At the previous round, the United States Grand Prix, Hamilton broke Didier Pironi's record of most grand prix starts for Ferrari without a podium, with 19. It was an unwanted mark that had stood since 1982.

The British driver will start from third on the grid at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, and therefore has a good opportunity to end his painful streak.

Further to his advantage is the long run down to the first corner, the longest on the F1 calendar, and the fact that polesitter Lando Norris is in the final stages of negotiating the F1 drivers' championship fight and has considerably more to lose.

Furthermore, the driver on pole has only won in Mexico twice in the last seven races, and they have not emerged from the first corner leading in the past three years.

So, when asked in front of media, including RacingNews365, what his plan was for the start of the grand prix, Hamilton shared he will be "quite aggressive", even if he did not yet have specifics.

The 40-year-old replied: "I don’t know. Definitely want to be racy tomorrow. I don’t have anything to lose, but he [Norris] does.

"So I’ll be… Yeah, we’ll be quite aggressive, I’m pretty sure. Hopefully, we’ll be close enough to put up a good fight."

Norris' title rivals Max Verstappen and McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri start down the order, in fifth and seventh, respectively.

The pair will be looking to charge through those ahead to minimise potential points loss to Norris, something that puts Hamilton in danger of not ending his podiumless run. It makes attacking Norris at the start all the more important.

However, the Ferrari driver knows it will not be an easy task for Verstappen and Oscar, explaining: "It’s tough with the altitude, with the overheating of the car, with the overheating of the brakes.

"I mean, I don’t know how it is for everybody, but I’m pretty sure most people have that experience here with the lack of cooling. So it won’t necessarily be easy. But you’ve got some great drivers behind us. So we shall see."

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