Lewis Hamilton is not at the top end of the championship this season, in fact, as we head into the opening European round at the Barcelona Circuit in Spain next weekend, the McLaren driver only has three points finishes to his name, a seventh place in Malaysia, a sixth in China and a fourth in Bahrain.

While doing better than some of their rivals, McLaren are still a long way from where they want to be and for Lewis, coming off the back of his maiden driver’s crown, it has been a tough start indeed.

However, things are beginning to look up and with new parts set for Spain and beyond, the Brit is hoping it will be enough to project them that little bit higher…

"I'm not sure what upgrades we'll have for Barcelona,” he said on his official website. “The engineers have a few things up their sleeves for the future, and they are talking positively about the next few races. Will it be enough? I don't know, but they are talking about new parts for Monaco and Turkey. I'd love to be able to fight at the front in Monaco - it's still my favourite circuit on the whole calendar and I'd love to do well there."

That said however, Barcelona is not the best track for the Woking based squad….

"I think our results have been fairly consistent all season, but they're not really an indication of our actual competitiveness. Bahrain really suited our car, and we pushed like crazy in the first two stints, but I don't think we are really as close as we seemed on Sunday. Barcelona next weekend will be much harder for us because we lack the downforce we need for circuits with high-speed corners."

Now that the FIA meeting is done and dusted with the team given a suspended three race ban, Lewis has reflected on just how hard the start to this year’s championship has been off the track….

"It's been the toughest start of the season for a long, long time: the toughest in my life. Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, and we've had some tough times in 2007 and '08, but this year has been really hard on everyone - people in the team, hard on family, hard on your friends, it affects your personal life so much,” he explained.

“But, it's in the past - it's happened - and you can't dwell on it, you can try and rise above it, try to learn from it. All these things that happen to you in life, I believe they teach you about growing. You've got to somehow use it to grow and be stronger - and I think I'm getting stronger for having those experiences, I think.”

“My family and friends have helped me keep my feet on the ground, they've helped me to grow and without them, I would not be here. So I continue to do it for them. And a great team - we've got many, many great people in this team and they've given me support and also helped me to work with them and guide them."