Hamilton banking on updates and track to fight Red Bull

Lewis Hamilton is putting his faith in the updates delivered by Mercedes this weekend at Silverstone to hopefully bridge the gap to championship leader Red Bull.

Mercedes endured its fifth consecutive defeat at the hands of its rival in Austria two weeks ago, a drubbing that has left Red Bull with a 44-point lead over the Brackley squad in the Constructors' standings while Max Verstappen extended his advantage over Hamilton in the Drivers' championship to 32 points.

Mercedes has regrouped and dug in since its double-header defeat at the Red Bull Ring and has implemented a series of updates on its W12 Black Arrow.

Hamilton hopes the changes, combined with Silverstone's characteristics which have historically always suited Mercedes, will allow him to give Verstappen and Red Bull more than a run for their money this weekend.

"A lot of work has gone on over the last couple of weeks so I’m hoping that we come back to a circuit that suits us a little bit better and hopefully bodes well for a closer battle at least with the Red Bulls," he said on Thursday.

"There’s a lot of changes on the car but it’s not a massive update in terms of the big gap that we’ve seen in the races. But it definitely helps us in terms of closing that gap.

"The first four races we had the car to fight and it was great," he added. "They’ve taken a big step forwards so it’s not been too great the last few races, we’ve not been able to have that fight.

"I’m hopeful and really working as hard as I can with the team to put us back in that similar position that we were in at the beginning of the year, because I think that’s what sparked the season off as exciting as it was."

While he hopes his team's updates and the track will improve his performance, Hamilton noted a third ingredient that could boost his prospects: Silverstone's full capacity partisan crowd.

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"The roar of the crowd here is unlike anywhere else," said the seven-time world champion.

"Considering we've had a drought in terms of fans not being at the races in the past year, the energy has definitely been very much missed.

"You arrive with this kind of excitement but also this kind of nervousness because you want to deliver for everyone, and we want everyone to have the best weekend.

"There’s always been talk of the energy and buzz the fans bring and without doubt when it’s your home grand prix and it’s the British crowd you come with more, you’ve got more heat behind you.

"So I’m hoping that all those play together, closes that nice gap that those guys have grown out in terms of performance and that enables us to really take it to them this weekend."

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