Hamilton eager to 'claw back the gap' in Rosberg's F1 lead during Italian GP

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has returned to where his rivalry with teammate Nico Rosberg began with revenge on his mind and is determined to bury his Belgian setback with a crucial 25-poing haul in Sunday's Italian Grand Prix.

The 2008 world Champion has insisted that this season's Formula One title race is far from over even though he has slipped a devastating 29 points behind the German with just seven rounds remaining.

Hamilton said that the Italian Grand Prix is always a special one for him in terms of the memories he has there, going right back to his early career. The Brit said that the Karting championships used to race in Italy quite often and it's also where he met Rosberg, so that is where their rivalry really began, The Mirror reported.

Hamilton said that Monza is such a historic circuit and to win there is a really special feeling. He added that he had that experience in 2012 and he would love to do it again in 2014.

He also said that last season Mercedes really struggled at this race, but they have a fantastic car this year and he is confident that they can make up for it this time around.

Hamilton said that his aim for the weekend, of course, is to claw back the gap in the drivers' championship, adding that it is as big as it's been all season so he has got a lot of work ahead of him but anything can happen in this sport.

Hamilton added that he won't give up until the flag drops in Abu Dhabi and there's still plenty of points to be won before then, so it's far from over yet.