Natalie Pinkham's huge Lewis Hamilton prediction

Sky Sports F1 presenter Natalie Pinkham believes Lewis Hamilton will finish second in the Drivers’ Championship, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez.

Ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, Hamilton sits fourth in the standings.

The seven-time World Champion is just a point behind third placed Alonso but is 41 points behind Perez.

However, should Perez’s form continue to be inconsistent, then Hamilton could bridge this gap.

Following Aston Martin’s recent struggles, most expect the Mercedes driver to overtake his former McLaren team-mate in the Drivers’ Championship.

Overtaking Perez though, seemingly depends more on the Mexican himself.

Whilst he has claimed back-to-back podiums in the last two races, he went on a run before that of just one rostrum in five races.

Should that happen again in the final 10 races, then Hamilton could close the gap.

“I’m going to say that Lewis Hamilton will finish runner-up because I fear Aston Martin’s decent run of form is over,” Pinkham said on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast.

“Whether it is to do with this flexi-wing being outruled or they have just gone down a bit of a cul-de-sac in terms of development and it’s been exaggerated by the fact that others have done well, like McLaren.”

1996 Formula 1 World Champion doesn’t see Pinkham’s prediction happening, with the Briton believing that Hamilton won’t catch Perez.

Whilst he would be “amazed” if the 38-year-old does claim P2, Hill believes Perez has “turned a bit of a corner”.

“I don’t think Lewis can get Checo,” Hill said.

“I’d be amazed if he could overturn his performance. We don’t want Checo to have another nightmare middle part of the season like he’s had and I think he’s turned a corner a bit.

“Red Bull have never had a 1-2 in the drivers’ championship.

“It’s leading up to them ticking all the boxes, breaking all the records and I kind of would like to see that happen because then it’s a historic season and you were there to witness it – they are breaking all the records as they go and we are going into the unknown.”