Hamilton doubts victory charge from P8

Lewis Hamilton doesn't expect to be able to challenge for victory in the Austrian Grand Prix as he will start from eighth place on the grid.

Mercedes noticed damage to Hamilton's gearbox following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix that required an unscheduled change ahead of Austria, resulting in an automatic five-place grid penalty. Having qualified third on Saturday – behind polesitter Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel – Hamilton's penalty will drop him to eighth place and when asked if he is confident he can win from there he replied: "Valtteri's been quickest all weekend so it's not really something I'm thinking of."

In 2014, Hamilton went from ninth on the grid to finish second but he believes such a result will be harder to replicate this year.

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"I'm pretty sure back then there was a bigger difference in speed deltas between us and other cars so I think it's more unlikely than it was then, but I'll give it everything I can. Of course I would be happy if I could get up there."

Hamilton also doesn't see a major advantage in starting on the supersoft tire compared to the ultrasoft that will be used by the rest of the top 10, after he opted for a different strategy in qualifying. However, he insists he is motivated to try and regain as many positions as possible having known he would receive a grid penalty ahead of the race weekend.

"You still approach it exactly the same. Nothing changes at all if I'm honest. You just try to get as high as possible and then when it comes to the race it's about damage limitation so I'll try to minimize the damage.

"I found out on Tuesday I think it was. You go in with a really positive mind about coming back and fighting. It's difficult for us all to swallow but we pull together as a team and we work as hard as we can. We've still got great performance and hopefully I can do a good job for the team tomorrow and get some good points."

Hamilton is currently 14 points behind Vettel in the drivers' championship, with Bottas – starting from pole for the second time in his career – is 28 points adrift of his teammate in third place.