McLaren Continue with Mercedes

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Martin Whitmarsh says McLaren will continue to use Mercedes engines for the foreseeable future -despite becoming a customer team for the first time in over two decades.

Mercedes sold their stake in McLaren after purchasing Brawn GP in 2010 and from next season the Woking-based team will have to pay for their engines.

That led to speculation the team could seek an alternative engine supplier with rumours of a link up with Honda - whose engines McLaren last used in 1992 - when the new 1.6 turbo regulations are introduced in 2014.

Whitmarsh, though, says the team have no intention of switching and want to continue their relationship with the German-marque.

"It is going to be McLaren Mercedes for quite a few years to come," he told the Daily Mail.

"It is a good partnership and it works well. We've been together for 18 years and it is going to continue for quite a few years to come.

"I think we have got a very good deal with them, but I think more importantly than that is we have got a good partnership.

"Obviously I've been involved with Mercedes personally. I ran the engine side so we know the people, and we are proud to be part of the Mercedes-Benz family."

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Lewis Hamilton is Hungary Winner

Lewis Hamilton fended off a race-long challenge from the Lotus drivers to claim a crucial victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix to reignite his championship challenge.

In a tense race dominated by tyre tactics and tyre preservation, the McLaren driver found himself under pressure from a Lotus driver for the entire race distance - first Romain Grosjean through the first two stints and then Kimi Raikkonen across the final 20 laps after the Finn had jumped up from fifth in the order.

Needing to make his set of medium tyres last for the final 21 laps in sweltering track temperatures, Hamilton, who started on pole, was initially reeled in by Raikkonen.

Yet, with overtaking all-but impossible, Hamilton withstood the pressure and in the closing laps actually eeked away again to win.

The success was Hamilton's second of the year and the 19th of his career.

Raikkonen finished a strong second ahead of his Lotus team-mate, Frenchman Romain Grosjean, and defending world champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull.

Current world championship leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari came in fifth.

Hamilton's McLaren team-mate Jenson Button finished sixth, while Bruno Senna in a Williams, Webber, Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Nico Rosberg rounded out the top 10.

Alonso stays on top of the drivers's standings, but Hamilton closed the gap and his victory in the much improved McLaren boosted his team's hopes of mounting a challenge for the title in the second half of the season following the annual summer break.

Lewis Ignores Horner Bull

Lewis Hamilton has shrugged off Red Bull team principal Christian Horner's comments that his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button is a bigger threat.

Horner told BBC Sport he is predicting a closer contest for the World Drivers' Championship although he expects Sebastian Vettel to defend his title.

But he said that the German's main rival from another team was Button.

"It's the first time I've heard of [the remarks] but they definitely don't wind me up," said Hamilton.

"There are a lot of opinions, and everybody has their right to an opinion, but it doesn't really affect me.

"It doesn't really matter at the end of the day when I go out and do the job."

Hamilton equalled Button's tally of three grand prix victories last season but finished 43 points behind his team-mate in the final standings.

"Losing to Jenson didn't really bother me," insisted the 27-year-old.

"If it had been a case where we had been fiercely competitive throughout the year it would have been quite tough to deal with.

"But knowing it was a year where I threw away points, made very silly mistakes - sometimes a little unfortunate, but it was just a shocking year - I wasn't really too devastated by it.

"I've drawn a line under it because at the end of the day he didn't win the world championship, so it could have been even worse.

"But there are still many years ahead, and I don't plan on [what happened last year] being the case this year."

Hamilton, who will begin his sixth season in F1 in Australia on Sunday, is confident he can still become a multiple champion.

And he is equally dismissive of claims that he should have achieved more.

"There's no point saying whether I should have done better," said the 2008 world champion.

"Of course, given my own expectations, I would have liked to have achieved more and have done better.

"But the journey I've had is the one that has been mapped out for me, and I would say the learning curve has been a steep one.

"I'm only 27 so if I'm to race as long as Michael [Schumacher] is racing, then I've still quite some time on my side.

"Given that, I definitely feel as if I can win more titles. My commitment to that has never really changed."

Lewis Confident McLaren Improvement

Lewis Hamilton has expressed his confidence that the new McLaren will be an improvement on last year's car as the team strive to end Red Bull's dominance of the sport.

Although Hamilton and team-mate Jenson Button each won three races last year in the MP4-26, they were unable to mount a serious challenge to the reign of double world champion Sebastian Vettel.

However, speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, the 2008 world champion said that McLaren's MP4-27 could be the car with which they take the fight to Red Bull on a consistent basis.

"Certainly. It will be up to us to be able to surpass it," Hamilton said, when asked whether Red Bull were still the team to beat.

"From what I've seen, however, the new McLaren seems a lot better than last year's."

He explained: "Basically, the Red Bull is an evolution of the aerodynamic concepts introduced in 2009. Midway through 2011 it was phenomenal, it was at the highest level and on top of that it almost never broke down.

"By contrast, when we had the same reliability, we lacked the same performance."

Vettel built his title success last year on a stunning run of early-season success and Hamilton said he wanted McLaren to also hit the ground running in 2012, something they have failed to achieve in recent seasons.

"During the winter you always dream of arriving at the start of the season with a car that goes quick immediately," he said. "This hasn't happened in the last two seasons. I want it to happen this year. If we start well, we'll stay at the top more easily."

Hamilton also played down the prospect of his relationship with Button becoming strained, assuming McLaren's car can make them both title contenders.

Button finished ahead of Hamilton in the 2011 drivers' championship - the first time the latter had been beaten by a team-mate during his career.

"Jenson is very quick and he's gathered a strong team of technicians around him. I'd like to be ahead of him all the times, and I'm not happy if the opposite happens," Hamilton added.

"However, psychologically it's absolutely not a problem. Besides, he's an open and cheerful guy who I get along with. It would be nice to fight for the 2012 championship with him: that's just up to McLaren!"