Two experienced veterans of the world of Formula 1 are tipping Lewis Hamilton to win a third consecutive world championship in 2016.

Thanks in part to Nico Rosberg's controversial radio-call penalty, the British driver closed to within a single point of the championship lead by winning at Silverstone.

After a sluggish start to 2016, Hamilton's four wins in the past five races shows he is back in top form, despite his controversial off-track lifestyle.

"We have to forgive him for his off-track escapades," F1 legend Sir Jackie Stewart told Switzerland's Blick newspaper. "He's still a young guy.

"Lewis will be champion again. There is no doubt. He is simply the best and especially the fastest driver in the field."

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone agrees that German Rosberg's one-point advantage will not last for the second half of the long 2016 season.

"I think Lewis will win," he told Bild am Sonntag.

"I don't mean to say that it would be better for Formula 1, or that it's anything bad about Nico. I would just put my money on Lewis."

Next up is the Hungarian Grand Prix, where Hamilton and Rosberg finished sixth and eighth respectively in 2015.