Fan support sugars pill for Hamilton

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Lewis Hamilton believes there is "light at the end of the tunnel" after a British Grand Prix that left him humbled by the fans support.

The world champion was blown away by the reaction he received over the course of the weekend at Silverstone despite the season of woe he has endured in his McLaren.

Hamilton finished a career-low 16th, yet when he crossed the line at the end the fans gave him a rousing cheer, reciprocating their support with wheel-spin 'donuts' at Stowe and Copse on his slow- down lap.

When Hamilton then took to the stage at the post-race concert, the 20,000 fans in attendance again gave him another tumultuous roar.

Indeed, Hamilton appears more popular now with the British fans than he was when he was winning.

Acknowledging their acclaim, Hamilton said: "What an amazing end to the day.

"When I walked onto the stage, the fans' reaction was amazing - just overwhelming.

"Because we are not doing so well this year with our results, I was worried about letting the fans down.

"But honestly, I've been really humbled by the support from the fans at Silverstone this year.

"I thought they were incredible in 2007 and 2008, but this year was bigger and better than ever.

"I've never seen so much passion from a crowd at a grand prix, from people in the paddock, everyone cheering me on in the grandstands, and then the people afterwards at the post-race party.

"I think this year's race has been the best ever for the fans, and we really need to come back to Silverstone again."

As for the donuts, Hamilton added: "I'd had a great weekend and I wanted to entertain the fans. I hope they enjoyed it.

"It was only afterwards I realised that's not the sort of thing you see very often at the end of a grand prix.

"But I wanted to do it to say 'thank you' for continuing to support me and my team in our time of need. We will repay your loyalty - soon."

All the support in the world will not make Hamilton's car go any faster, although a significant upgrade is expected for the next race in Germany in three weeks' time.

If those improvements fail to work it will surely be time for the team to call it a day for this season and plough all their resources into next year's car.

Up until then, Hamilton remains hopeful of any kind of upturn in result at the Nurburgring, a second 'home' race for McLaren given the backing of engine partners Mercedes.

"It's still not going to be a night-and-day change that makes the difference, but I'm hoping that we can gain some advantage to help improve our results," added Hamilton.

"It would be great to give our second home crowd something to cheer and feel proud about, but we'll see.

"Places like Hungary, Valencia and Singapore should hopefully be stronger for us, and so there is light at the end of the tunnel for the end-of-season push.

"We need a competitive car before the end of the season so we can learn as much as we possibly can for next season."

Jenson Button stays positive

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Jenson Button is convinced he can tame the Red Bulls following a disappointing British Grand Prix.

After winning six of the first seven races this year and opening up a 26-point cushion in the title race, many observers - Niki Lauda amongst them - felt Button had the crown in his pocket and he could switch his Brawn GP to cruise control for the rest of the season.

But in the space of a few dominant days at Silverstone, Sebastian Vettel has suggested it will not all be one-way traffic for Button, offering up hope the battle could yet stretch towards the wire.

Supreme in practice, sensational in qualifying and stunning in a race in which he also set the fastest lap, it was as close to perfect as Vettel will ever experience.

After starting the race 32 points behind Button, the 21-year-old now heads to his own home event in Germany at the Nurburgring in three weeks' time 25 adrift, and with a degree of momentum.

In finishing sixth, Button was naturally unhappy at failing to give a 120,000 sell-out crowd what they had come for, but was far from downbeat.

"I would love to have won the British Grand Prix, but it didn't happen," said Button.

"I would have liked a good result for the crowd, but also a good result for myself and the team.

"In the end, I've come away with three points and lost seven to Vettel, which is not great. It's disappointing.

"But then again I gained 10 points when he put his car in the wall in Monaco, so we could have come away with a worse result.

"Now I go to the Nurburgring positive, thinking we can take the fight to Red Bull.

"I know their package is good, but I'm not upset because I know it will turn around, and hopefully there."

Although it was Button's worst result of the season, it has merely underlined the fact the title scrap cannot be taken for granted.

"I lost three points to Rubens here," said Button of his team-mate Barrichello who finished ahead of the Briton for the first time this year.

"So I've a 23-point lead which is still quite a lot to be fair, and Rubens is driving the same car as me so I can try to keep him in check.

"But Vettel's the one where you don't really know where their (Red Bull) performance is going to be.

"So it's important for us to be fighting for wins. We can't settle for third or fourth place.

"There are challenges, and it shows, because I had a 32-point lead (over Vettel) coming here.

"You can never be comfortable enough to think you can just cruise home.

"They were very quick and I am sure they're going to be competitive at other races, but I just don't think they are going to have the advantage they had at Silverstone."

Button concedes to being enlivened by the fresh fight after having it all his own way for so long.

"It's exciting in a way for me, it's not easy," added the 29-year-old, who on Tuesday heads on holiday to Japan with model girlfriend Jessica Michibata.

"They (Red Bull) beat Rubens by 45 seconds at Silverstone, and me by 50, and there are lots of reasons why we weren't on the pace.

"One of which is that it was absolutely freezing so we couldn't get any heat into the tyres. The sun didn't come out until after the race - thanks British weather!

"They've also made a big improvement with the car. They've a lot of new parts which are obviously working for them.

"The circuit is high speed, probably not to our car's strength, and there is hardly any braking which is our strongest point.

"We're stronger than Red Bull on braking, but you never hit the pedal that hard at Silverstone, which is another reason why we couldn't get the tyre temperature.

"That's why we weren't competitive, so I'm not going away that disappointed."