McLaren haven’t been good enough, nor consistent enough this season to challenge Red Bull and Ferrari for the title according to Lewis Hamilton.
The Brit started the season with the fastest car as he and team-mate Jenson Button secured a 1-2 in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix where they both finished on the podium.
However things haven’t gone as smoothly since, with various pit stop, strategy and reliability blunders hampering Hamilton’s efforts.
The 27-year-old believes he has driven at his highest level, a claim one wouldn’t argue against considering his near faultless drives, yet he sits some 90 points behind Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton admits it’s been a frustrating season.
“This year has not been the easiest as I’ve been at my best,” said the 2008 champion.
“We have had a lot of failures in the last four or five races, so reliability has been a big issue for us,” he added.
“We’ve had too many problems to have been able to win. We have not done a good enough job to have been able to win the championship.
“I have no doubts the team can fix it. We just need to keep our heads up and keep looking forward.”
Hamilton then dominated in Abu Dhabi at the weekend, but the Brit had to retire from the lead of the race with a fuel pressure problem. Despite this, he is hopeful of ending his career with McLaren in a high in the final two races.
“We hadn’t brought any upgrades [to Abu Dhabi],” said Hamilton, adding: “We have some coming for the next race.
“I really hope the car performs as well in the next two races so we can get back up the front and maybe finish a race up at the front for the last time. I’m really happy with the job I did. I couldn’t have done any more.”
