Lewis Hamilton believes he can be in title fight with George Russell

Lewis Hamilton believes he can take the world championship fight to Mercedes’ George Russell and land his record eighth title.

Russell is leading the drivers’ standings for the first time in his career after he won so impressively at last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.

Mercedes have hit the ground running following a major overhaul of the regulations. However, Ferrari quietly impressed and might have won in Melbourne, with Charles Leclerc leading before the Italian team fluffed their strategy lines.

Hamilton was also in contention but Ferrari’s failure to stop him for tyres during an early Virtual Safety Car cost the seven-time world champion.

However, Hamilton did finish fourth to match the best result of his Ferrari career so far.

Speaking in Shanghai ahead of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, the 41-year-old said: “We are going to try and catch them (Mercedes) up and I believe we can.

“It is not going to be a short thing. It is very dependent on development. They do have a big advantage. We saw that in qualifying and in the race their advantage was between four or five tenths a lap when they were in clean air and that is a huge gap.

“However, it is great to see this team fighting, pushing, chasing and working overtime to bring upgrades because that is the name of the game.”

Hamilton, who is reported to be in a relationship with American reality star Kim Kardashian, added that he is in a “happier place in my life” than last year.

New city. New fit