HAMILTON PLANS TO WIN ’EM ALL

LEWIS HAMILTON has set himself the target of winning all the Grand Prix races remaining this season.

The world champion (above) trails Sebastian Vettel (below) in the title race, after the German made the perfect start to the year with victories in Australia and Bahrain.

But after finishing fastest in both practice sessions for tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix, Hamilton said: “We are only two races into the new season, but I arrived here thinking I want to win the next 19.

“I know the title is not won and lost in two races, and the experiences of the last two Grands Prix strengthen you, but I definitely don’t want to fall any further behind.

“I feel hungry, we are not a wounded beast, and I still believe we are the best team with the potential to win races and fight for this world championship.”

No driver can match Hamilton’s record of five wins in China, and his Mercedes team have won every race staged since 2014. It has also been six seasons since a non-mercedes car last started from pole position.

However, Hamilton said: “Ferrari are going to be hard to beat here.

“It is a good track for us, but it will be closer than you think, so we need to bring our A-game every weekend.

“Our team needs to be unified and on top of everything.

“It is like a table with four legs. If two of those legs are not there, the table falls over. In the first race of the season, we lost on strategy. In the last race, I had a gearbox penalty.

“So, it is about making sure we have all the levels turned up to maximum.”

Ferrari have implemented Vettel’s opening two races perfectly and are in no mood to relinquish their advantage in Shanghai.

“We know that the season will be long,” said the team principal, Maurizio Arrivabene. “In China, we will see Mercedes and Red Bull quite strong, but we are not here to surrender.”