Lewis Hamilton rejects F1 title talk in Ferrari declaration

Lewis Hamilton has declared that he is "not thinking" about winning the F1 championship as he praised Ferrari's "tight-knit" approach. 

Hamilton is currently third in the drivers' standings after the British GP, and is 32 points behind Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes, and seven behind the sister W17 of George Russell, with five podiums in nine races, including a win in Barcelona.

The seven-time champion has previously stated that he does not intend to retire until he wins a record-breaking eighth crown, breaking the record he jointly holds with Michael Schumacher.

Ferrari has emerged as Mercedes' closest rival, with the SF-26 also proving to enjoy greater reliability than the Brackley machine, but Hamilton, speaking ahead of the Austrian GP weekend, was not getting carried away. 

"I am really, really proud of the whole team in the factory, like every person in the team brings something to the table," Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365.

"Everyone is levelling up, everyone is pushing that extra bit harder than maybe they did before, and we're working more cohesively and more tight-knit than before, with great leadership from Fred, and to see improvements coming that we've asked for. 

"The team has worked incredibly hard to take a step with the engine; it is not the whole step, but it is one step forward, and that's what we've got to keep doing, just continuing to put one foot in front of the other.

"But I am not thinking about the championship, I am thinking about each race and executing in a way [like we did in Barcelona], because the pit-stops, the strategy were all in sync.

"Having that every single weekend is the most important thing, and not thinking about what is going to happen in 15 races."