I want to leave McLaren on a high: Hamilton

It has been a rather disappointing year for McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, who hopes to revive the fortunes of his team with the forthcoming Indian Grand Prix.

Hamilton's 10th place finish at the Korean GP two weeks ago has virtually thrown him out of the race for the drivers' championship, but the 27-year-old Briton, who is all set replace seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher at the Mercedes next year, has his eyes trained on helping his team win the constructor’s world championship.

At the end of the Korean GP, McLaren (284) lie third in the standings, behind Red Bull (367) and Ferrari (290) with four races remaining in the 20-race calendar. However, the 2008 world champion is 62 points behind leader Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel in the drivers’ standing.

Hamilton said he enjoyed his long association with McLaren and wants to leave on a high. "It has been a long and fantastic journey. I won’t exchange it for anything in the world," said Hamilton, who has been with McLaren since he roped in as a 13-year-old. "It has not been a good year, but we still have four races to go. We will try to get as many points and do our best to win the win the constructors' championship. I would like to leave on a high."

Hamilton will join Nico Rosberg at Mercedes and try and replicate the kind of form he has shown at McLaren, but before any of that, he will have to fill in the shoes of Schumacher. “The intention was not come in way of Michael. I have grown up watching him win world championships at home. It has been a surreal for me to race alongside him but to drive in his seat is a real privilege. They are very big shoes to fill and I will do my best,” said Hamilton.

Talking about his association with India and the second edition of the Indian GP at the Buddh International Circuit, Hamilton said: “India has become my second home. It is my seventh trip here. It is culturally a very different place from Europe. I am most excited about the people here. We have always got a good support here.”

Further explaining the track layout and how the race would pan out, the 27-year-old said: “It takes good races to settle the track. Everything had to be rushed last time. It's a medium to low-speed circuit and incredibly challenging. It's a quite demanding circuit on the tyres. It will be an intensely competitive race. Last year there were some good overtaking manoeuvres. This year the DRS zone has been improved, so the overtaking possibilities will be even better this year."

Hamilton felt a better crowd turnout can make Indian GP one of the top most races in the world.