I'll never give up - Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has told his fans to ignore his own downbeat assessment of his Formula One World Championship hopes and get behind him at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The McLaren driver could only manage a fourth-place finish at Sunday's European Grand Prix in Valencia, while points leader Sebastian Vettel continued his unrelenting dominance of the season to date by claiming a sixth win in eight races. The victory moved the German 77 points clear at the head of the standings.

Hamilton, though, appeared in a bullish mood on Monday as he posted on his official Twitter account: "To all our supporters, ignore what u read in the papers today. My team will never give up & I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!!!! Bring on silverstone, ur support will make a world of difference to us. I'm going to the factory now to do all I can with our team."

Hamilton had previously said: "It's finished really. In the sense of the championship it's almost over already."

He then added of his upcoming home race: "I'm not looking forward to it, I'm really not looking forward to it.

"Of course, I'm really looking forward to seeing the fans because they always put a spark in the weekend and make it that much brighter.

"And I'll be going there as prepared as I can, racing as fast as I can, but we really might struggle."