Lewis Hamilton has been struggling to compete for race wins this season as he has done all his career as Mercedes’ plagued W13 is proving to be a real slog for Toto Wolff and his team to extract the full potential out of their car.

After winning seven world titles and missing out on the last lap of last season, Hamilton looks destined to have to look to the future if he wants his eighth and record-breaking world crown, with this season seeing Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc fighting it out.

However, the Mercedes car has been improving, with Hamilton on a run of consecutive podiums as they do close the gap to the top two teams, so who knows what the second half of the season could have in store if they can extract the full potential of the W13.

To still be as consistent as he has been to pick up regular podiums shows us how good Hamilton truly is, sacrificing himself early doors this season so the team can prosper and understand the car better. He’s certainly beginning to reap those rewards.

Whilst some may have doubts about Hamilton’s ability given this is his longest run of races without a win, the 103-time Grand Prix winner is still certainly in his prime, with his standard not dropping from previous years.

One of the easiest ways to see just how well Hamilton is performing is his race starts this season as he displays his ridiculous reaction times despite being one of the more senior drivers on the grid, he certainly has plenty more to give the sport after notching up 300 races at the French GP recently.

MONTE-CARLO, MONACO - MAY 28: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes W13 during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco at Circuit de Monaco on May 28, 2022 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

Even fighting the painful porpoising in the opening race of the season at Bahrain, he managed to blitz past the Red Bull next to him to get up into fourth place on the opening lap before going on to make the podium after the double DNF of the Red Bulls.

The first two corners at the Australian GP saw him make two overtakes with his lightning quick reaction time at lights out.

He managed to do the same at his home race at Silverstone, overtaking Leclerc and Sergio Perez instantly off the line, making it look like a computer game against 0% AI difficulty, he was in a league of his own at the race start.

It was the same story at Paul Ricard for the French GP. Off the line he was straight past Perez way before the first corner, even getting a chance to have a look up the inside of Verstappen at the first apex on his way to a second place finish in his landmark 300th race.

Never write off greatness, Sir Lewis Hamilton is still one of the best around.