Hamilton determined to regain the winning habit

The McLaren Mercedes driver concedes that anxiety is growing the longer he goes without taking the chequered flag. "It does," he said ahead of round five of the world championship. "We are racers and we want to win. I've tasted it quite a few times and that is what we are here to do.

"As a driver when you come to a team you need to be innovative, you need to come with lots of ideas and energy to keep on pushing the team and keep on asking questions."

"That is the bit I love about this job. When you come to the race, and all that comes together and you win, it is one of the best feelings you can have."

"I believe in the team and my abilities, so I have no doubts we can do it again. This weekend we could have a good shot."

Hamilton's confidence was boosted by the pace of his McLaren last time out in Spain, where he was able to track the Ferraris of defending champion Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa all the way to the final lap.

He said: "What's good is that over that weekend we got faster and faster. Throughout the race we were quicker the whole way and we were able to push them the whole race."

"It boosted our confidence for the whole team, including myself, to see that we have a very strong package."

"We just need to work harder to make sure we gain a tenth here and a tenth there. But I have no doubts that we can do that."

His problem is that Ferrari have made Turkey a home from home in recent times but the 23-year-old, desperate to reduce his nine-point deficit on championship leader Raikkonen, is ready to confound the form book.

Hamilton said: "Felipe has won here the last two years but we are here to put an end to that. It is the same every weekend. Ferrari have done a good job in the last few races and we will push hard to overcome that."

Team-mate Heikki Kovalainen has been passed fit to race following his crash at Barcelona, where the Finn was lifted unconscious from the wreck of his car.

McLaren today confirmed that an exhaustive investigation has established the cause of the mishap as a failure of the left front wheel.

A spokesman said: "Owing to a process fault during manufacture, the outer clamp surface of the wheel was given a clear lacquer coating.

"As a consequence, the clamp load that attached the wheel was not to specification. We have new procedures to prevent a re-occurrence."