Valtteri Bottas has vowed to fight until the end against Lewis Hamilton, suggesting the Formula 1 title race is still on.
The Finn sits 63 points behind his Mercedes teammate with seven races still to go and hasn't won a race since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix back in April.
But, with a vote of confidence having got a 2020 contract, Bottas says he feels ready to give it one last push to catch the five-time champion.
"It's definitely a better feeling for the end of the year," he said of his hopes going forward. "I also feel very good support from the team and the points gap between me and Lewis is not night and day.
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"You never know what will happen in the championship. There might be opportunities so no point giving up, we have seven races and things can happen.
"It's encouraging for me to see I can perform. There's no doubt from my side that I can when I will be able to be at my best, when title hopes and motivation is there, I know I can do it."
Some upcoming tracks may also give Bottas extra optimism of ending the current win drought, including his specialist circuit in Sochi next weekend.
Before then though, the 30-year-old has the testing streets of Marina Bay to negotiate.
"I look forward to Singapore, another race that has been difficult in the past but Lewis has been really strong there,"Bottas stated.
"We'll give a big effort there to have a good and strong weekend."
