Lewis Hamilton says he has a better chance of retaining his title next season when compared to the last time he was champion back in 2008.
The Briton is confident Mercedes will carry their advantage through to next year because of the stable regulations, unlike in 2009 when they changed dramatically.
“Going into next season, you’re hoping that you’ll be competitive again, you hope you’ll have a chance to fight for the championship again,” he said at the FIA Prize-Giving Gala on Friday.
“The good thing about this period of time in Formula One is that when I won the championship in 2008, the following year we had a year like this with some new rules and regulations and as a team we didn’t do a good job to adapt to that, so I didn’t have a chance to fight to keep my championship.
“Next year will be an evolution of this year’s car so I’m hoping that we’ll be at least able to fight.”
He is however wary of the threat from team-mate Nico Rosberg, who came close to snatching the title from Hamilton, as well Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and potentially Fernando Alonso.
“Nico’s going to come back stronger and I’ll have to make sure I come back even stronger to stay ahead of him,” he added.
“You know Daniel Ricciardo has been doing an amazing job. It will be interesting to see what Fernando [Alonso] does in his car. It’s very difficult to know but I don’t particularly care who’s behind. You don’t care do you? You just want to look ahead.”
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