Belgian GP: McLaren insists Lewis Hamilton can still win at Spa

That is the view of McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe, who says that although Jenson Button's low downforce choice was better for qualifying, it could prove to be worse for tyre degradation in the race.

Button qualified on pole for Sunday's race while Hamilton will start the race in a disappointed seventh.

"It is race day when you score the points, and both our drivers want to win," said Lowe. "They are both capable of winning it, I would say.

"Last year Jenson came from 13th to third. It is a long race and it is a circuit at which you can overtake relatively more easily than most places.

"And it is difficult to predict which one is better - although one would expect a high downforce configuration to be better for tyre materials."

He added: "With the two different strategies we have got across the garage, Lewis is in a camp with at least Kimi [Raikkonen], and Jenson is fairly extreme in the other direction.

"We will see how that pans out because it will be different; it will allow different strategy choices."

Lowe thinks it far from guaranteed that Button will have it easy at the front of the grid - despite being in a class of his own in qualifying and having Sauber and Williams as his closest challengers in terms of pace.

"I don't think we can rule them out at all," Lowe said about those two teams. "Pastor [Maldonado] did a great job in Spain; it was an absolutely fantastic drive, so any of those guys are proper threats.

"We take them as seriously as anyone else. It is a great result for them - and refreshing to see - although easier for me to say that because we got pole position."