• F1 driver wants to replicate MotoGP champion’s seven wins • Briton desperate to rein in Rosberg, who is 22 points ahead

Lewis Hamilton’s new role model is the MotoGP champion, Marc Márquez, who has won seven straight races in his title defence.

Hamilton has already had four victories in successive races this season but has now fallen 22 points behind his Mercedes team-mate, Nico Rosberg, after being beaten in Monaco and Montreal.

On the eve of Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix he said: ”I’ve just watched Márquez win seven in a row in MotoGP. That’s inspired me. I thought, ‘Jesus, I’ve got to do that. That’s my goal now.’”

Hamilton has been the dominant Mercedes driver this year but has been badly damaged by two failures to finish that were beyond his control. He added: “Leading a race is easier than chasing because you’ve got clean air and you manage it a bit better.

“But in terms of points there is more pressure when you’re chasing. You can be affected by a pit stop, a car not finishing, a puncture, and then that gap slips another certain amount of points. It’s harder chasing.”

With Mercedes already 119 points ahead in the constructors’ championship it is likely to be only be a short time before they wrap up that title.

But Hamilton does not feel he and Rosberg can become more cut-throat with each other and even risk taking each other out when they win the championship.

“I think it will be the same,” he added. “I think the team will want to win every race, regardless of the constructors’ title. We want to show that this is a car that can do as the McLaren car did a few years ago.”