Haug encouraged by salvaged points

That is the view of Mercedes Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug, who thinks that Hamilton may come to look back on the events at Istanbul as a blessing rather that feeling disappointed at missing out on a certain third place.

"With the tyre failure, I see it this way - maybe these will be the most important points of the season," he said about Hamilton's fifth placed finish.

"Those four points maybe they are very valuable at the end of the day. Of course you can say that maybe we could have made eight, maybe we could have made six, but the reality is that you could have made zero with something like that."

Bridgestone is still investigating the cause of Hamilton's front right tyre failure, with initial examination of the rubber at the track last night failing to provide any answers. Further tests are now likely to take place back at the Japanese tyre manufacturer's headquarters.

Haug was in an upbeat mood about McLaren's chances for the championship, despite Ferrari's 1-2 finish.

"The most important thing is that if you have a tyre failure, you still bring home four points. That is why I feel good.

"We made 10 points, we want to make 18, but the reality is that after 15 races we are 15 points ahead of the best Ferrari driver. We would have bought that at the beginning of the season.

"We are still not there, but I think nobody can say that Ferrari will walk away with it. They are strong, they were strong in Australia and there we all thought something different. It looked like they were going to disappear in the distance. But now it is quite balanced."