F1 French Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton races in 300th grand prix and hopes to end long-awaited run for win but no driver has beaten milestone curse as Mercedes star picks Fernando Alonso as his toughest rival over Max Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton is hitting another milestone as he prepares to take part in his 300th Formula One race at the French Grand Prix this weekend.

The Mercedes star, 37, made his F1 debut in 2007 at Melbourne aged 22 and claimed he still cherishes that appearance as his career highlight.

Hamilton finished third and became just the 13th driver to finish on the podium on his debut.

“The whole realisation of reaching your dream is a very, very surreal experience, it is always going to be your first, there’s only one first,†he said.

“Just getting to that first grand prix in 2007, the amount of sleepless nights as a family all of us had had not knowing if we would reach our dream but never giving up nonetheless and being there, that will probably be the real highlight.â€

Hamilton's debut F1 season came at McLaren alongside Fernando Alonso and the Brit named his former teammate as his biggest rival.

He added: "I remember the task of being alongside Fernando. I was so young mentally.

"It is a lot of pressure to go up against a great like him, on pure pace and ability I would say it is Fernando.

"We had some good battles. I wish we could have more and hopefully he is going to continue to race so we can have more in the future."

Hamilton is suffering one of the toughest seasons of his career and is languishing down in sixth in the Drivers’ Championship standings.

He is currently on his longest ever streak without a grand prix victory - haven't not won since claiming the chequered flag in Saudi Arabia last season.

But there is cause for optimism that Hamilton's luck could be about to turn with three consecutive podium finishes amid Mercedes' continued upgrades.

Unfortunately, no driver in the history of the sport has won a race after driving a triple century of races.

A defiant Hamilton said: “It doesn’t faze me because I’m getting towards that win.

“I do believe we’ll be able to compete whether it be now or in five races. It has been more about the journey, we’ve got consistency and we’ve continued to push. No one in our team has given up.