Lewis Hamilton Fears British Grand Prix Could Be Toughest Yet for Mclaren

Lewis Hamilton fears the British grand prix could be one of the toughest races yet for his struggling McLaren team. After collecting just nine points in his first seven races, and none in the past three, the defending champion sits 11th in the driver's championship and 52 points adrift of first-placed Jenson Button. His team-mate, Heikki Kovalainen, has managed just four points, and Hamilton does not see either driver's fortunes improving at Silverstone.

"We fully expect next weekend to be very difficult," said Hamilton on his official website. "Firstly, Silverstone is one of the fastest courses on the calendar and it's clear that our car doesn't behave well through fast corners.

"It's also harder to harvest Kers there than at other circuits because there's not too many heavy braking spots. To give you an idea, we don't touch the brakes from the exit of Luffield right down to Stowe – about half the circuit – and there are no slow exits followed by long straights where you can use Kers for a boost.

"It will be difficult, but I'm looking forward to just racing in my home country, in front of my home fans."

Hamilton was also quick to point out that this was not the first time in his career that he had been faced with adversity. "It's true that this year is my first difficult year of Formula 1, but it is not the first time in my career that I've had difficult and tough years," he said.

"I've gone through difficult stages of karting and junior formula as well, and I've also been very lucky throughout my career to have been in many top teams and driven some great cars.

"It is character-building, you have some good years, and you have some bad years, but as long as you learn from both the good and the bad then you come out a stronger person. With each day, I think I'm becoming a better person and a better driver because of it though.

"I've been through some fantastic times with the team and I'm sure we'll get back there soon. In the meantime, it will take discipline, determination and hard work to get back to the front.

"We might not do it this year, and we expect Silverstone to be a tough race for our car package, but it will come."