Lewis Hamilton believes Mercedes should be "a lot further ahead" of Ferrari and hopes the Scuderia's reliability will prove the difference in the Formula One title race.

Ahead of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, Hamilton sits third in the drivers' championship standings, behind the Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

Antonelli leads the way with 179 points, with Russell on 154 and former Silver Arrows driver Hamilton on 147, having finished third at Silverstone last time out.

Hamilton has four podiums in his last five races, having also won the inaugural Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix while finishing second in Monaco and Canada.

That is as many podium finishes as he managed across his previous 40 races, while his only failure to crack the top three saw him place fifth in Austria.

With just 32 points separating him from Antonelli and more than half the season still to come, hopes are high that the 41-year-old could push for a record-breaking eighth drivers' championship. 

Hamilton's Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc is fourth in the standings, but he feels the Scuderia pair are fortunate that Mercedes have not pulled further clear.

"I mean, I don't really look at it much. I don't think about it. I don't think it's particularly relevant," Hamilton told reporters when asked about the standings.

"I mean, it's great that we're all close when really Mercedes have been the strongest team and they should be a lot further ahead.

"So, that's exciting for the rest of the year, hopefully."

Hamilton hopes Ferrari's consistency could prove important as the season goes on, particularly given reliability issues have plagued Mercedes at times. 

Both Antonelli and Russell have failed to finish a race this season, while Hamilton has placed sixth or higher at all nine grands prix thus far.

"Often in championships, that [reliability being decisive] is the case, and that's really down to the amazing work the team's done in really building us a reliable car," Hamilton said. 

"That's no easy feat, to build a fast and reliable car, so I'm very grateful to them for that.

"And then, I'm just trying my best to extract everything from every single lap and get every single point I can out of the car."

Ferrari have recorded eight podium finishes in 2026, one more than they managed across the entirety of last season (seven). 

Having averaged 28.33 points per race, this is the highest points-per-Grand Prix average in Ferrari's F1 history, though Mercedes are still 78 points clear in the constructors' standings.