The seven-time world champion has not won at the Red Bull Ring since 2016, his only F1 win on the track, but will get into the race of the weekend from the back of successive podiums†
He said on Thursday: “When we come here, we have always had a hard time in Austria. So it becomes difficult to win here given the combination of angles. But not impossible.
“I hope we are pleasantly surprised [on Friday] – but I could be wrong. I will find out, but I remain hopeful and the best thing you can do is arrive hopeful and positive and navigate from there.”
The Austrian Grand Prix will feature the second sprint race of the season on Saturday and Hamilton enters the weekend with optimism following Mercedes’ recent improvements.
Hamilton commented: “It felt like, ‘Gosh, there’s a long, long way to catch up with everyone, knowing the progress everyone is making’. But definitely hugely encouraging.
“For a long, long time we would make changes and not see it do what it said it would do and improve the car. It was a good step in Barcelona, but then several difficult races followed.
“Then we just had these last two races that were pretty strong and that really encouraged us that we’re moving in the right direction and there’s real potential in the car.
“With a little more digging and a little more hard work, hopefully we can get closer to winning a race. So I really believe we can win a race this year.”