Hamilton thinks next two races can provide fillip

Lewis Hamilton believes that the Belgian and Italian grands prix could represent McLaren's best chance of getting on terms with world championship rivals Red Bull and Ferrari.

Both require medium to low downforce, thus negating some of those competitors' potential advantage.

The 2008 world champion was buoyed by his second position in yesterday's first, wet, practice session, and third when the Spa-Francorchamps track had dried out in the afternoon.

"The weather made it a bit of an up-and-down day," he said. "It started off very wet, so we didn't do too much running in the morning. But we got a few more laps this afternoon on the intermediate tyres and then the option tyre.

"We're making small steps forward. This track does seem to suit our car better than the Hungaroring, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. We have realistic expectations for this weekend – I didn't score in the last race, so it's important that we get more points on the board on Sunday." Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was fastest in both sessions.