 Hamilton had to settle for third in France behind Kimi Raikkonen |
Lewis Hamilton remains confident he can match Ferrari's pace at the British Grand Prix next weekend despite their dominant performance at Magny-Cours. Hamilton, third in France behind a Ferrari one-two, will arrive at Silverstone having preserved his record of podium finishes in all his races.
"Ferrari are quick, but I think we can take it to them at the next race," said Hamilton, the championship leader.
"We are competitive and consistent. I know we'll be quicker."
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Hamilton, who heads into his debut home Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend with a 14-point lead in the championship, added that Magny-Cours had provided a misleading picture of the relative competitiveness of the two cars.
"I don't think they were as quick as they looked, not that much faster," Hamilton said.
"I don't know what times they were doing, but there was obviously a big gap and traffic and strategy had a lot to do with that.
"I am sure we can bounce back at the next race, without a doubt.
"So long as we maintain reliability and consistency I don't see why we can't keep going for the win."
 | I've extended my lead in the championship so I couldn't be happier |
"At the start of the season such a thing was unimaginable, while I have said before that I never expected to finish on the podium in my first race, never mind to do so now for eight races. "So I'm very, very happy with the job I've done, and the job the team has done.
"Even after Sunday, and the fact I was overtaken for the first time in a race, I am not disappointed.
"I don't like being overtaken, which is the same for everyone, yet it was inevitable it would happen at some point.
"But the fact is we have finished on the podium again, we are the most consistent team, and I do think we are doing the better job.
 | We made Ferrari look a lot better than they were |
"Obviously, you can't win every race, but I've extended my lead in the championship so I couldn't be happier." McLaren team boss Ron Dennis said the team switched Hamilton to a strategy to guarantee third place, recognising it would be impossible to overtake the Ferraris.
"Obviously we are delighted that Kimi won over Massa (who would have been just one point behind Fernando Alonso had he won)," Dennis said.
"We flattered them (Ferrari) this weekend. They did a good job and probably improved the car a little but we made them look a lot better than they were. Hopefully we will demonstrate that at Silverstone."
McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh added: "We had a good test at Silverstone recently and there is no doubting Lewis will be very motivated to get the job done there."
 | I think this is the start of a revival for us |
But French GP winner Kimi Raikkonen believes victory at Magny-Cours could prove to be a turning point for the Italian team with nine races of the season left.
"The work is starting to pay off," he said. "It has maybe taken longer than we expected, but we've got the win and we're back in the right place.
"We didn't expect to have the problems we've had in the last few races, but now we are back where we expected to be.
"I think this is the start of a revival for us. Everything is now working well, so we will try to keep it up and improve."