Lewis Hamilton 'hopeful' Mercedes will soon return to winning ways - just not in Austria

Lewis Hamilton has faith he will win a race in his troublesome Mercedes this season — just not at this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix.

After a grim first half of the year, the seven-time world champion arrives in Spielberg for Sunday's race confident his car is finally showing its potential.

Last weekend's British Grand Prix extended his winless run to 11 races, the longest in his standout career that has seen him top the podium on 103 occasions.

But third-placed Hamilton was almost as happy as if he, and not Carlos Sainz, had taken the chequered flag after his Mercedes at last battled shoulder to shoulder with the Red Bulls and Ferraris.

This was a massive improvement on the under-performing machine shackled by bouncing, or porpoising, as Mercedes grappled with the radical new design regulations brought in this term to produce closer racing.

The problem grew so bad in Azerbaijan, that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff apologised to Hamilton over the team radio as arguably the best driver ever to grace the sport had to be helped out of the car his back was so shaken up by the bouncing over Baku's streets.

"You're just praying for it to end," said Hamilton at the time.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen celebrates finishing first in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku City Circuit on June 12, 2022. Getty

With updates before Barcelona and Silverstone working their magic, the second half of the season is looking a lot more enticing.

"Yes, there was a long way back. Earlier this year, I definitely wasn't sure we would ever get a win in this car," Hamilton told a press conference on Thursday.

"Obviously that's not the way we like to think, but there was a feeling that 'Jesus, there's a long, long way we have to catch everyone', knowing