Hamilton feels he is winning for Senna

© XPB 

Lewis Hamilton feels he is winning races for both himself and Ayrton Senna as he closes in on equalling the Brazilian's F1 record.

If Hamilton wins in Singapore on Sunday he will have the exact same record of race starts (161) and victories (41) as Senna achieved in his career. While not putting too much emphasis on winning this weekend, Hamilton expects to surpass Senna's tally and believes his own final total will highlight how much more then triple world champion could have achieved had he not been killed at Imola in 1994.

Asked for a highlight of Senna's career, Hamilton replied: "Something like Donington.

"I quite liked when Senna and [Alain] Prost crashed in Japan and then he won - that race stands out to me. He never gave up and kept pushing. Reminds me of karting, I would get knocked off and then I would come back.

"I am not approaching this weekend thinking that if I win this race I will equal him. It doesn’t matter if it is this weekend, next weekend or the weekend after, I will eventually have the same number of wins as Ayrton.

"If Ayrton had been able to continue, he would have won many more races and many more championships, so I think I am carrying the baton for both of us and striving to win more for the both of us. I think if he was around, we would be friends."

Chris Medland's Singapore Grand Prix preview

2016 F1 driver line-ups so far

Click here for some of the most memorable crashes at Singapore

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter