Hamilton is hoping he’s poles apart

LEWIS HAMILTON believes a

76th career pole position holds the key to him further stretching his championship lead over Sebastian Vettel at Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.

In a yo-yoing season, Hamilton wrested back his advantage in a dominant weekend in France as Formula One returned to the country for the first time in a decade. And the four-times world champion warned he could further stretch his 14-point advantage at the end of the week.

“Austria should be a fairly decent track,” said the Mercedes driver. “It’s been decent for us in the past, so I don’t see why it should be any different now. You can’t really overtake there, so it’s going to be about who qualifies where, isn’t it?”

Ominously for their rivals, Mercedes have not lost in Austria since the race returned to the F1 calendar in 2014, while Hamilton has only once finished outside of the top two. The 33-year-old is in the midst of potentially a season-defining three weeks. The Austrian Grand Prix is followed the following weekend by the British Grand Prix, a race Hamilton has won five times.