The 24-year-old world champion admits the Woking squad, which has scored just 13 points in eight races so far this year, faces a “tough job” to recover its perennial front-running position, but says everyone in the team is determined to ensure its torrid 2009 isn’t repeated.
“When I’m talking about next year, we have a tough job on our hands and we have a lot of pressure on our hands,” he said.
“We have to work as a team to make sure we have the best car and when we get there next year we want to be winning every race, so that’s what we’re all working for and that’s what we are all hopeful for.
“Clearly everyone else [rival teams] is going to do a great job as well, but we just have to make sure we don’t have a tough year like this again.”
Hamilton, yet to finish higher than fourth and without a point in the past four races, is currently enduring the worst season for a defending world champion since Britain’s previous title winner Damon Hill scored just seven points all year at Arrows in 1997.
When asked if he had a target position in the drivers’ standings he felt he could reach over the final nine races, he said: “We aim to win – so as high up as we can get.
“I think I am P11 in the championship right now, which is new for us, and with the way we are going, not scoring any points, then that’s kind of where we are going to be.
“But bit by bit if we can begin to start scoring one, two or three more points per race then slowly we will climb back up the standings – but I’m not sure whether we will get up into the top five with the pace that we have.”
Hamilton adds that although a breakthrough has remained elusive with the troublesome car, the team has continued to work as tirelessly as ever and will continue to introduce further improvements.
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