EAR WE GO ... Lewis is ready for title push
By MICHAEL SPEARMAN
LEWIS HAMILTON plans on launching the greatest comeback in F1 history in front of his home fans this weekend.
The former champ knows he has to win Sunday's British Grand Prix to have any hope of regaining the drivers' crown.
Hamilton's title dream will not be formally over even if he sees runaway leader Sebastian Vettel scorch to a seventh win this season.
But the McLaren driver knows he will be all but dead in the water with his Red Bull rival already leading him by an incredible 89 points.
Hamilton, 26, insisted: "We are only halfway through the season, there is still a long way to go. Somehow I still have this hope inside me that we find something and we win every bloody race after that and we can still win the world championship.
"If we get to the next grand prix and don't win, you think of the next and the next - and then you run out of opportunities.
"But the opportunity is still there now. This is the third year in a row we have not really had the best car to win titles with.
"When I had the best car in 2007 and one just as good the next year you could bang it out again and again.
"But it is on Red Bull's foot now and Vettel might get two or three world titles."
James Hunt produced the greatest comeback in history when he overturned a 35-point deficit to snatch the title from Austria's Niki Lauda in 1976.
That equates to a 97-point disadvantage using the new system - eight more than Hamilton trails Vettel with 11 races left.
But Hunt only caught Lauda after the Austrian missed two races following his near-fatal crash in Germany. Hamilton cannot be ruled out as he bids to spearhead a one-two with Jenson Button in front of 100,000 fans at the former WWII airfield.
He added: "The dream for us would be to have a one-two at Silverstone.
"That would be the best weekend I could ever imagine in Formula One. That would be incredible.
"The dream would be to see what effect that would have on everyone." But Hamilton's future at the team is again in doubt amid fears he is looking to join Red Bull for 2013 - or maybe even next year.
The Herts-born star's £75million contract runs out at the end of 2012.
The team have refused to deny Hamilton has a break-out clause that would enable him to leave next year - if he can find a team that could guarantee him a winning car.
But team chief Martin Whitmarsh is hopeful Hamilton will agree a new deal with the Woking outfit that could earn him £150million.
Whitmarsh said: "Lewis loves this team and he knows the car is capable of winning.
"He's sat with me in the last 10 days and explained his passion, enthusiasm and desire to remain with us.
"I've known him since he was 11. I don't think he would look me in the eye and say that if he didn't mean it."
Credit: The Sun (www.thesun.co.uk)
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