Lewis Hamilton says he does not allow those near him to even discuss his chances of winning a sixth Formula 1 drivers' championship in 2019, as it distracts him from his method of treating the new season as an entirely separate entity from his successful one beforehand.

Hamilton pulled level with Juan Manuel Fangio by winning a fifth title in 2018, with only Michael Schumacher (7) now above him in the all-time list.

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Having surpassed modern-day rival Sebastian Vettel, who remains with four titles to his name, Hamilton has been tipped to try and eclipse Schumacher in not only terms of championships, but also race wins – he begins 2019 18 victories shy of the German icon's record tally of 91.

Asked if he had turned any attention to a sixth title at pre-season testing in Barcelona, Hamilton was clear.

"For me it's not something I allow my peers to talk about," he said. "That's not what we're here to focus on, that number.

"It's never been done before. We are always driven to do something new and to break boundaries, do stuff that no one else has done before.

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"But, we are fully aware of the work that it could, that it will take, to deliver something like that.

"And by no means we're like 'oh yeah we're going for the sixth' like it's a relaxed thing, it's not like that.

"For me, as well, I'm not even focusing on that. It's a new season, it's a new year, it's a new chapter and we have to approach it like it's out first. So, we're going for number one. That's how I approach it."

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