McLaren back Hamilton for title fight

Hamilton finished a strong second at Sakhir on Sunday to move into the joint championship lead with teammate Fernando Alonso and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.

And although Hamilton is a rookie and has not yet even won a Grand Prix, McLaren think they have seen enough to believe he will be a title threat.

McLaren F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh said: "We have two drivers in our team now contending for the drivers' championship.

"I think people at the start thought Lewis was clearly a very fast driver, and he started very, very strongly. But we all have to conclude now that he is a serious title challenger this year.

"He will of course want to go one better soon and win a race, but I don't think any of us doubt that it is going to be achieved some time this season."

McLaren are pinning hopes of a step forward in performance for the Spanish Grand Prix in one month's time on an aerodynamic and mechanical upgrade package.

Whitmarsh said: "We are pushing very hard, as you would imagine. We can see quite a few tenths of laptime improvement, which is encouraging. But none of the other teams are going to be standing still, so we have to keep pushing.

"The fight is clearly going to be very tight, and we now have a race from event to event to improve the car."

Hamilton himself has admitted that he also believes he can now fight for the world championship this year.

When asked after the race whether he believed he had the same chance to win the title as Alonso, he said: "Absolutely. I don't see why not.

"I have the same car and I seem to be as competitive as him. As long as I can keep up the consistency I know now that a win is going to be possible. We need to make no mistakes and try to take advantage of this four weeks to the next race to try and keep on beating the Ferraris."