Hamilton admits he is still not feeling fully comfortable in the Mercedes

The Briton had declared himself extremely uncomfortable with his car in the build-up to qualifying, but went on to claim pole by a commanding margin and led early on, only for a dramatic tyre blow-out to cost him a shot at victory.

While he said Nico Rosberg's subsequent win confirmed Mercedes is back in the title hunt, Hamilton conceded he is still struggling to derive satisfaction from his car.

Asked if his despondency was actually a positive given his upturn in results, Hamilton said: "It is definitely a positive to take away from it.

"When I do feel 100 per cent in this car, I am looking forward to that moment."

Hamilton said that Rosberg's win had validated his own victory hopes at Silverstone, but said lingering brake concerns limited the positives he could take from the weekend.

"There are lots of tracks coming that I still have to get the most out of this car which I haven't done yet," he explained.

"As Nico proved, there is lots of potential in the car. I was at a track [Silverstone] where there wasn't much braking, although the braking was pretty strong that weekend.

"I am hoping that continues here, where there is lots of braking. But time will tell.

"The team are already doing a great job with the right steps, the right direction. At the last race the brakes were feeling better so I am definitely feeling more comfortable."

Hamilton believes Mercedes is beginning to get on top of its current tyre problems, adding: "It was quite warm in Silverstone and we were quite competitive still.

"It is probably the first weekend that I felt like we could push quite a lot and the tyres stayed with us.

"That was due to the guys doing a lot of work to keep the tyres in better shape and it seems to be working."