Hamilton hopes McLaren have a successful season

Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he still has a soft spot for the constructor team which he started his career with, McLaren, and although they are now effectively rivals to Mercedes, he hopes they can have a successful 2018 after a few non-competitive years using Honda engines.

McLaren have not won a race since 2012 and have spent the last few seasons towards the back of the grid using unreliable engines from the Japanese manufacturer. However, McLaren will be using Renault parts from the start of 2018 and the Woking-based firm are hoping this will turn their fortunes around.

Hamilton started his career with McLaren after coming through the junior ranks, with their chief at that time Ron Dennis investing heavily in the Englishman.

Hamilton won his first world championship with McLaren, and has confessed the team still has a place in his heart.

"I have a natural place in my heart for them because I achieved a huge amount with them," he said.

"I really, really hope that next year is a successful year for them and that we are battling with them [at the front].

"McLaren deserve to be at the front and have a fantastic team with incredible history. It's something I'm incredibly proud of, what Ron did with that team, and it doesn't matter who takes over that team, for me it's always Ron's team."

Hamilton went on to reveal that, if McLaren can become competitive again, he was looking forward to battling with Fernando Alonso.

"I hope that with this new power unit they are up there with us and I hope you have an incredible world champion [in Fernando Alonso] up there fighting for us for the championship," he continued.

"I had a great battle with Fernando earlier this year towards the end of the season [in Mexico] and I would love to have more battles with him on a much more level playing field. I think McLaren have had such a difficult time.

"I grew up with McLaren since I was 13 and when I go through a qualifying session I always look to see where Fernando is and where they are -- watching their progress."