“To win a world championship,” says 1992 World Champion Nigel Mansell, “you need speed and consistency, and you can’t argue with Lewis Hamilton’s record in recent races.”

Since winning his first race of the year in Turkey back in May, Lewis has been the driver to beat in Formula One. In the past four races he’s scored 90 points out of a possible 100 and there’s little sign of his domination ending in the near future.

“The next two races are very good for me,” says Lewis. “Every driver has his favourite tracks and I’ve always been very quick in Germany and Hungary. My aim is to collect another 50 points before the summer break in August.”

His optimism would appear to be well placed because his McLaren MP4-25 is one of the fastest cars on the grid. It’s already 0.8s per lap faster than it was at the start of the season, according to McLaren Racing managing director Jonathan Neale, and it’s going to feature more improvements in Germany.

As for Lewis, he has an impeccable record at Hockenheim and the Hungaroring.

“I won the last race at Hockenheim, in 2008,” he says. “That was one of my best victories in F1 because I charged from fifth to first in the closing stages of the race, after making a late pitstop. I overtook my team-mate Heikki Kovalainen and Felipe Massa’s Ferrari and I crossed the line more than five seconds in front, which felt very special.

“I’ve also won two out of three races at the Hungaroring and I could have made it a clean sweep last year, had I not had a puncture in the middle of the race. So I’m really looking forward to that race as well.”

For all Lewis’s brilliance at Hockenheim, he’s quick to point out that doesn’t especially enjoy driving around the track. It was shortened and reconfigured in 2002 and many F1 insiders will tell you that the spirit of Hockenheim died when the old track was dug up.

“The new track isn’t that challenging to drive,” says Lewis. “It produces some good racing because there’s a hairpin at the end of a long straight, but it’s not a difficult track for the drivers. I’m sure the old, longer track was more challenging; well, that’s what Jenson tells me anyway!

“When I was a kid I played the old track on computer games and loved it. The long straights made it incredibly fast and the cars ran with very low downforce, so, in reality they would have felt very light to drive – like they do at Monza.. It’s a real shame that I never got to race on it.”

The old Hockenheim was the scene of many classic races, as well as tragedy. Lewis’s hero Ayrton Senna won at the track three times, but the circuit also claimed the life of double world champion Jim Clark in April 1968. A cross dedicated to Clark can still be found in the woods, close to the spot where he died.

"I know more about Ayrton's career than I do Jim's because I saw Ayrton's races on television," says Lewis. ""But I'm very aware of Jim's record in F1; he was obviously a great driver and it is always sad when you think about racing at the track where he was killed."

Few F1 drivers have a feel for the history of the sport. Michael Schumacher once remarked that he’s only interested in tomorrow, not yesterday, when he was asked a historical question. But Lewis is different; he openly admits that he’s a fan of F1 beyond simply driving.

“I watched F1 on TV the whole time when I was young,” he says. “I loved it long before I started driving for McLaren and I’m still passionate about racing. In fact, I love watching people do things with real devotion and it doesn’t matter whether it’s racing, golf, tennis or a desk job. I just like to see people doing things with genuine passion and enthusiasm.”

There will be no lack of commitment from Lewis this weekend as he strives to increase his lead at the top of the world championship standings.

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