Lewis Hamilton says he will only feel ahead in the championship when he's at least a victory clear of team-mate Nico Rosberg, as he will be forced to take an engine penalty at either the Belgian or Italian grands prix.
The Mercedes driver currently has a 19-point lead after winning six of the last seven races, helping to reverse a 43-point deficit to Rosberg, but despite that advantage, Hamilton still feels as though he's the hunter, rather than the hunted.
"Do I feel like I'm ahead [in the championship]? No, as I'm not a race win ahead yet," he said.
"It [a 19-point lead] definitely feels different to being six points ahead," he explained. "It's crazy, being 43 points behind, and now it's gone the other way, so I'm very, very happy, but there will be one race where I'm further behind and I don't know how much I'm going to regain."
Hamilton is referencing the fact he is already on his fifth and final turbo-charger and MGU-H thanks to early season reliability troubles, whilst Rosberg is on his third of all elements.
Should he take a sixth – which is somewhat of a certainty with nine races remaining – he will be hit with a ten-place grid penalty, therefore choosing which races to take those penalties at could prove crucial to his championship.
Hamilton reckons the team will opt to take the hit at either Spa or Monza, with a double-penalty likely to give the three-time champion a pool or components to use throughout the season.
"It will either be Spa or Monza, because I'm going to run out of engines soon," he said.
"Nico will most likely be up [in the lead] enjoying a Sunday drive, and then I'll be battling through… Red Bull have picked their pace up and it might be hard to even get into the top five."
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