Hamilton expects no points in Australia

"I think if we think optimistically then we can get a point," Hamilton told reporters in Melbourne. "But I don't think so, somehow.

"We have to stay positive, and anything can happen, and we can get some points - last year only seven cars finished the race so anything is possible - but in terms of true pace at the moment I don't think we are quick enough. But we will see tomorrow.

"Heikki (Kovalainen) made some improvements on the last two days of the test, and I haven't driven the car since then, so with some new bits added to the car maybe we are a bit faster than I think."

McLaren admitted ahead of the start of the season that its car was lacking downforce and that it was not as fast as it was hoping.

Hamilton said the MP4-24 felt like it needed a lot more work before it's quick.

"Well, it wasn't great," he said of the car. "I feel it is a work in progress but we have a long way to go."

The Briton is adamant, however, that McLaren can recover as the season progresses.

"For sure, we have all taken it personally," added Hamilton. "It is affecting all of us in the team. But the fact is that we are a strong team, we've been through serious ups and downs over the last two years since I've been here. And there is nothing we can't fix and nothing we can't conquer.

"We will keep our heads high - and there will possibly be some bad results, as there are every year, and we just have to make sure that when the car is right that we maximise and score really good points. I do feel that we will catch up - just not right this second."

He added: "There is a huge amount of intelligent and talented people around us who have now seen what the problem is, although it is a little bit late in finding out the problem, now they are working as hard as they can to fix the problem we have and improve the car.

"This is a very, very strong team and if anyone can do it, we can. I hope!"