Q & A with Lewis Hamilton

Q. Hungary brought your second mechanical retirement of the season, you must be extremely disappointed.

Lewis Hamilton: "It was a disappointment, yes, but you have to put it behind you. And you should never think too hard about the 'what ifs' or the missed opportunities. It happened, and we move on - it's that simple.

"And, despite it being a difficult race, I can take some positives away from the Hungary weekend - I was able to pass a car on track, and the guys once again pulled off a perfect pitstop, to put me ahead of Felipe [Massa].

"And I also know we can come back even stronger in the final seven races. We have some very promising developments in the pipeline, and we're making progress in lots of other areas, too. We have dug deep before, and I know absolutely that we will dig deep once more.

"With the championship so closely balanced, this is the perfect time for a break. In effect, we'll resume the season as if it's the start of the year again: with everything to play for, and none of the top three teams lagging behind on points. That's really exciting!"

Q. Formula 1 now takes a four-week break before the next race in Belgium. What will you be doing?

LH: "I think everyone in Formula 1 looks forward to this break. We kind of started looking forward to it a few weeks back, and everyone went into the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend knowing that it would be the last race for a while, and that everyone can relax once it's finished.

"The summer break is really necessary for the people in our sport - you can see on TV how hard the mechanics and engineers work at the racetrack, but you don't get to see how many hours the men and women are putting in back at the factory. And, believe me, it's a proper shutdown; it gives everybody the opportunity to forget about Formula 1 for a while and spend time away on their families, which is really important.

"As for me, I'm looking at getting away from it all for a little while. Where am I going? I don't think I'm going to say! Ha ha!"

Q. The summer break is also a good time to look back and reflect on the year before the season pushes to its conclusion in the autumn. What's your verdict on the progress of Vodafone McLaren Mercedes over the first 12 races?

LH: "We're extremely fortunate to have built a car that's not only enabled Jenson and myself to win races, but that's also been competitive at pretty much every grand prix we've been to. We haven't been up there at every race, and we had some fairly difficult weekends at places like Monaco and the Hungaroring, but, on the whole, we've been consistently fast, made very few mistakes and have usually scored the points we've deserved on the Sunday - which hasn't been true of every team.

"So, yes, I'm pleased with what we've achieved so far, but we know that this is really only the foundation for the championship battle, and that what awaits ahead of us will truly decide the title. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has been here before, of course; we know how to win, and we'll be doing everything we possibly can to make sure we're a fully competitive force as soon as the championship restarts at the end of the month.

"In fact, I can't wait for Spa - I wish it was next week!"