Lewis has real title chance - Lauda - Sport in brief

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The 22-year-old heads the current world drivers' standings ahead of this weekend's Monaco Grand prix in Monte Carlo.

Lauda, the three-times world champion, said: "It may seem absolutely amazing but, yes, I can see Lewis winning the championship (this season)."

He added: "He is clearly already as fast as his McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso, despite the fact he is completely new. He has a clear mind to face the challenge of Formula One.

"He genuinely has the chance to win the world championship at the first attempt, assuming of course he can develop the necessary understanding and close relationship with his engineers when it comes to interpreting precisely what he wants from the car."

Lauda added in The Guardian: "Lewis has shown himself to be incredibly mature and strong-minded. To be honest he has rather stunned me. I can`t remember being so impressed with a young driver in his first season of world championship competition.

"If his learning curve continues to climb as it has been doing over the first four races and if the team are capable of improving their car`s performance to create an advantage over Ferrari, the title battle will be fought out between Lewis and Alonso.

"Hamilton has lots of room to move forward. the real danger from him could therefore be next year when he knows all the circuits, but he is certainly the best guy around now."