Hamilton can equal Juan Manuel Fangio’s record by winning the US Grand Prix this weekend, but he will also need title-rival Sebastian Vettel to finish third or below.
The Brit is 67 points ahead of Vettel in the standings with four races of the season remaining.
Ahead of the race in the US, Hamilton appeared on Good Morning America to talk about what inspired him to become such a star of Formula One.
The 33-year-old hailed the late Senna, who passed away following a tragic accident at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, for his impact on the sport.
“I have been racing since I was eight years old,” Hamilton said.
“I have been in Formula One now, this is my 12th season. I always wanted to emulate Ayrton Senna.
“When I was five I was watching him and always wanted to be like him.
“I equalled him two years ago and I have been working on building it on ever since from there.
“I have got a big team behind me, there is 1,800 people behind me to build those cars.
“I am just a chink in the chain but I am the guy who gets to go out there and unleash the potential.”
If Hamilton wins his fifth world title then he will be two Championships behind the legendary Michael Schumacher.
But to get there he will have to put in a lot of hard work off the track.
“I just study before a race. There is a lot to study. There is a lot of strategy and things that might happen in the race,” he added.
“I need to make sure I leave no stone unturned. I know what I have to do, I have been racing since I was eight.”
Although Hamilton is the favourite to to pip Vettel to the top prize, Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene insists his team will not give up the fight.
“I know that the situation looks impossible but our job sometimes is to challenge the impossible,” Arrivabene told Sky F1.
“This is what we’re going to try to do. “We win and we lose together.”
