McLaren will fight on in title race, says principal

Lewis Hamilton crashes through an advertising hoarding into the barrier to end his race (AFP/GETTY)

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has praised Jenson Button's drive from 13th on the grid to third place in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, and pledged that his team would not give up until it was mathematically impossible to beat Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel. Race winner Vettel leads the title race with 259 points to team-mate Mark Webber's 167, as Fernando Alonso, Button and Lewis Hamilton trail on 157, 149 and 145 respectively.

"Jenson drove a dazzlingly impressive race," Whitmarsh said. "I'd say without any doubt he was the man of the match. It was the kind of performance that marks out a true champion. As for the world championship, we will focus all our efforts on trying to win as many of the remaining races as we can."