Hamilton bullish about title prospects

The former world champion had been consistently near the top of the title standings for much of the season, but has slipped back over the last few races as the result of incidents and mechanical problems.

But although he now faces a 28-point deficit to championship leader Mark Webber, Hamilton says he is bullish about his current situation.

"I feel fantastic. I feel great," said Hamilton, speaking before he topped the times in opening practice for the Korean Grand Prix. "I really do feel optimistic here. I am composed. I feel energetic, excited and optimistic.

"There are three races to go, and a lot of points available still. The goal is to win all the races - and in the last three we will put a final big push in.

"If anything I feel more relaxed now than the last few races. The last few races were very tough and unfortunately I have made mistakes and sometimes a car will fail, but we win as a team and we lose as a team.

"I feel we have learned from the mistakes and are back on a positive way. I feel excited, strong, and really excited to be racing. I am happy to be back at a racing weekend."

Hamilton has faced a torrid time in the last few events - crashing out in Italy and Singapore, before gearbox problems wrecked his Japanese Grand Prix weekend.

But Hamilton said he was not wasting time lingering on what might have been in the last few races, with his target being to do the best job he can to get firmly back in title contention.

"I don't live any of my life in regret," he said. "I think that is not really the way forward for me. Of course there are situations I have been in where I have been unfortunate, and I hope they don't happen, but they are character building.

"I feel positive now, I feel strong and feel like I have the car to at least be the closest to the Red Bulls, and hopefully have a good battle with them.

"In the last race we were very competitive. We were third on the grid and had a good shot of challenging for the win in the race, and we have made a small step forward here.

"What we had at last race should work here this weekend. Hopefully with reliability we have the chance to fight for the win."