Q & A with Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton: For me it was extremely difficult conditions. For us as drivers it is very difficult to determine if it is going to be damp or dry in one corner, because as you approach it you have the same amount of droplets on your visor. Sometimes you arrive and there is more grip than you anticipate.

Clearly the key is not to barrel in with too much speed, realise it's wet and then go off. It was really, really hard. I had just put my slicks on, then it began to rain harder - especially the last sector of the lap. Even though I managed to pull it off, it was very, very tough.

Q. You have been aching to be fighting back at the front. How happy are you with fifth place, and have you got a shot at victory tomorrow?

LH: I don't know about victory. I think we need to take it one step at a time, but I am very happy and very proud of the job the team have done. We have been working extremely hard all year and the guys back at the factory have been flat out. Each week at a time, we push them even more. The guys are on the limit, but they did a fantastic job to bring part of the update package here this weekend and clearly it has almost put us on the right road. Before we were kind of up a dead end. Now we are on a positive road where we can start exploring this new avenue. Fingers crossed there is light at the end of the tunnel and more success in races to come.

Q. Can you tell us how the car feels with the new aero bits on it?

LH: It still feels like I am driving a McLaren. But I just have more stability, more confidence in it. And I think my confidence has grown over the last day and a half, to be able to push more and more, and extract more from it knowing that the rear end is not going to slide out like it usually does. Generally before the whole car slides off the track, but now it is beginning to work with the tyres - so through that we have found even more time. We have an update that has helped turn the tyres on even more than we have in the past, and that has given us a little bit more time.

Q. The fans enjoyed your battle with Fernando Alonso at Silverstone, but now you have a chance to fight at the front. Can you explain what it is like battling for the lower positions?

LH: I think regardless you are still racing. We love to race as drivers and for me I am racing. Whatever battle I get, whether it is for last or at the front, it is exciting. But when it is at the front it is much more rewarding, and you are competing for one more point and competing for the win. It is just a much better, more satisfying, confidence boost thing when you get past drivers and keep him behind. When you are 12th or 13th, and you pass a guy, that is just one guy and you have several more to go. It is slightly different but it is good fun either way.

Q. This circuit is mainly slow and medium-fast corners, where McLaren would have been a little bit better than Silverstone anyway. Could you feel in the fast chicane the improvements in the car?

LH: Yes. Normally we would have had to have a lift through there, but each time I approach it is easy flat. For a normal F1 car it should be flat, but for us it would have been difficult. Coming into the weekend I thought we would have to lift, so it is comforting knowing I can attack there. It is an easy corner, but the confidence that gives you gives you even more confidence for the slower corners.

Q. From what you've seen of the improvements to the car this weekend, how much more confident are you that you will be fighting back at the front of the grid soon?

LH: For sure it lifts our spirits as a team. It lifts my spirit, and for me as a driver sitting in the car and knowing that I can push, it has given me a big boost. I know the team have been working extremely hard, and it was just about time - when will we get the update that will help propel us a bit more.

But we have a long way to go. I think today you saw conditions that are variable and enabled us to be higher than maybe it should have been. But with more updates coming in the future, hopefully in the next three or four races I hope we are competing for wins. I honestly think we can do that.