It's landmark time for Lewis as he gears up for his 200th start on Sunday; big chance to match Schumacher's record of 68 poles
Britain and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. Pic/Getty Images
Lewis Hamilton will line up for his 200th Formula One start on Sunday, but the milestone will mean little to him unless he can celebrate it with victory in the Belgian Grand Prix.
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The Briton, who made his debut in 2007, trails title rival Sebastian Vettel by 14 points heading into this weekend's race after the German clinched a one-two finish for Ferrari at the last race in Hungary.
Batteries recharged
Batteries recharged after a holiday in Barbados and Cuba over Formula One's annual four-week summer break, the triple champion heads into the second half of the season fired up to close the gap.
"I'm here to win," Hamilton, who could also equal Michael Schumacher's record haul of 68 pole positions this weekend, told reporters yesterday.
"When you're racing for so long, it's my 200th race, you would think that maybe your passion or your desire to win would fade, but it's stronger than ever."
On paper, at least, the fast sweeps and long straights of the 7-kilometer long Spa-Francorchamps circuit should play to the strengths of Hamilton's Mercedes. The German marque has won all but one of the three races there since the start of the turbo-hybrid era, while the team was also utterly dominant at the similarly fast, sweeping Silverstone circuit last month. Hamilton clinched an emphatic victory ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas in his home race but has a chequered history at Spa, where he, like Vettel has won just twice. With Ferrari also having bounced back in Hungary after having seemed to have fallen behind Mercedes in the development race, the reigning champions are taking nothing for granted.
A different circuit
"On paper, people will assume that Spa should suit our car because it is a circuit where aerodynamic efficiency is extremely important," said Mercedes team-boss Toto Wolff.
"But assumptions are dangerous — we have seen too many times already this season that the form book can be rewritten from one weekend to the next. So we will be making no assumptions."
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