Hamilton backs McLaren to come good after awful start to F1 season

London: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has backed his former team McLaren to come good in the current Formula One season after an awful start during the inaugural race in Melbourne.

As Hamilton prepared for Sunday`s second round in the intense heat of Malaysia he said Mercedes still had plenty to prove despite their flying start to the season. The 28-year-old was speaking after Jenson Button and Sergio Perez finished a lowly ninth and 11th, and their car was so bad they admitted they were delighted to be that high. McLaren`s massive gamble on ditching last year`s design, which won seven Grands Prixs, for a radical new car backfired massively with the 2009 champion admitting after Melbourne it will never win a race in its current form. But, Hamilton backed McLaren`s famous development team to make up the lost ground, saying he is not actually focused on them so he doesn`t really know what needs to be worked on. Hamilton added all he knows is that McLaren is a fantastic team, which has great facilities and great people working there, adding they have always been very strong at catching up and developing the car and moving forward. Hamilton said he feels that this is only a small little blip in their journey this year, and he is sure they would catch up. The Brit also refused to gloat over the achievements of his new team in finishing fifth despite widespread criticism of his switch. ANI