Lewis Hamilton has not given up on retaining his Formula 1 title but admits his McLaren car is a long way behind Jenson Button's Brawn.

Going into next weekend's Monaco GP Hamilton is seventh in the standings, 32 points behind Button.

He said: "Brawn have a championship winning car. It is going to be tough but the ambition is always to win.

"If we've still not scored many points by the time we get to mid-season, we may have to knock it on the head."

Button has won four of the first five races, and lapped Hamilton in the last outing, in Barcelona.

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Hamilton added: "We hope that something clicks with our car and it gives us the downforce that we need. Then, we will be right back up there.

"But Jenson is doing a great job. I have known him since I was nine-years-old and I wish him all the best."

Hamilton holds out some hope of a better finish on the slower and highly technical Monaco GP course.

"It is not really a high speed circuit so the gap between ourselves and Brawn will be a lot less than it was in Barcelona," he added.

"We can take a step closer to them and be challenging for a top five place."

Meanwhile, Hamilton has reiterated his frustration with the continuing off-track issues after the Briton and his McLaren team were found guilty of misleading race stewards at the Australian Grand Prix.

Last month, Hamilton told BBC Sport he had considered quitting Formula 1, and the 24-year-old has now told The Times: "I just feel knocked out by it all.

"It's got to be a similar feeling to anyone who goes to jail but feels they shouldn't be behind bars. That is the feeling I have had, although I know what happened in Australia was wrong.

"I want to be a driver - I am not in the sport to be a politician. I used to enjoy Formula One and part of that has been taken away from me.

"I never imagined it would be so much politics when I came into Formula One. It definitely was a shock. There has been too much time taken up with it.

"Unfortunately, it is the way the Formula One world works for some reason. It's much nicer in the lower categories, where all the people are there just to race and the teams are there just to race."

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