Hamilton looks to make Formula One history in China

The 22-year-old Briton holds a 12-point lead over McLaren-Mercedes team-mate Fernando Alonso with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen five points further adrift in third and just this weekend's race in Shanghai and the Brazilian GP in Interlagos on October 21 to come.

 Hamilton will also clinch the title this weekend if he either outscores two-time defending champion Alonso, or loses only a single point to him, as long as he finishes fifth or higher and accordingly eliminates Raikkonen from contention.

 Incredibly, his victory in last Sunday's rain-soaked Japanese GP in Fuji, when Alonso crashed out, was Hamilton's 14th podium finish in 15 races and he now has the opportunity to become the youngest winner of the world title at the age of 22 years and nine months.

 Current holder of the honour Alonso was 24 years and two months when he won his first drivers' title with Renault in 2005.

 Hamilton also only needs one more win to set a new record for race wins in a rookie season. At the moment, he is tied on four with Jacques Villeneuve, a mark set in 1996.

 "I'm thinking positively. My target is to win. I am preparing exactly as I did ahead of Fuji," said Hamilton Thursday in Shanghai.

 "From what I understand of the Shanghai circuit, it is very fast in comparison with Interlagos, so we will probably have two quite different races.

 "Everything is too tight for me to predict what will happen, but the races in China always seem to be exciting and I feel well prepared to take on the challenge."

   Hamilton also revealed that if he lands this year's title he intends to constantly improve so he can stay at the top for many years to come.

 "If I won then I want the next one and the one after that," he said.

 Former world champion Niki Lauda certainly believes Hamilton can be one of the greats.

 "Hamilton is sensational. No one has ever put in such a performance in their first year," the Austrian told Thursday's Bild Zeitung newspaper, pointing out that neither five-time champion Juan Manuel Fangio nor seven-time winner Michael Schumacher achieved the feat.

 "For that reason, for me he goes into the history books on the same level as Schumi and Fangio," said Lauda.

DPA