F1 News: Lewis Hamilton Ready To "Challenge And Beat Max Verstappen" As He Sets Sights On Sergio Perez

Lewis Hamilton has detailed his goals for the rest of the 2023 season along with the importance of being ready to fight when the Mercedes is more competitive against Red Bull.

Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton has come back from the summer break ready to get himself ready for when the Mercedes car is competitive enough to fight with Red Bull. The British driver is eager to get back on top and in the meantime has his sights set on his Sergio Perez's spot in the drivers' standings. 

Red Bull has dominated the 2023 season so far winning all twelve races, ten of those victories going to Verstappen with Perez claiming the remaining two. The rest of the grid has struggled to keep up with the Austrian team but Hamilton is keen to get back to fighting form. 

Hamilton is currently in fourth in the drivers' standings with 148 points behind Fernando Alonso with 149 points. Sergio Perez sits in second with 189 points and Max Verstappen leads with 314 points. 

Whilst speaking to the media ahead of the race weekend at the Zandvoort track, Hamilton explained to Sky Sports F1:

"My goal is to try and figure out how to have the best 10 races I've ever had in the second half of the season.

"And of course, we know performance wise, we're not gonna blitz these races, but maximising points every weekend, holding on to second in the Constructors' Championship and chasing down Perez is my goal.

"Definitely feel like I'm ready to. I'm trying to prepare myself for when the car is ready to be able to challenge and beat Max. So I think at the moment, the only way we could probably do that currently is just to capitalise on any potential mistakes, which they don't tend to make. But if they do, I'll be there."

Mercedes is second in the constructors' championship with 247 points and the goal is to keep Aston Martin off which is in third position with 196 points.