Hamilton: "Button has done a better job all season"

An estimated 40,000 turned up to watch Lewis Hamilton drive the MP4-23 in Bangalore

Lewis Hamilton believes that Jenson Button has outperformed him this year, adding that even an improvement to his form over the final five races would "not mean a lot" to him.

After driving his MP4-23 – the car with which he won the 2008 drivers’ championship – on a demonstration run through the streets of Bangalore on Tuesday, Hamilton was asked how he felt to be 17 points behind his team mate.

"Jenson's done an incredible job. I feel he's done a better job all season, really,' Hamilton said. "So even if I did a better job in the next five races it doesn't mean a lot to me. I mean, it's through a whole year.

“I think for me now it's just to find my ground and improve on the results that we've had in the last four races.”

Hamilton was also asked about his collision with Felipe Massa in Singapore and their ensuing clash in the interview pen, which caused the 26 year-old to leave the circuit without giving any interviews. “I was able to just ignore it and move on,” he said.

An estimated 40,000 turned up to watch Hamilton in Bangalore and the McLaren driver said he was looking forward to returning for next month’s inaugural Indian GP on Oct 30.

Lewis Hamilton in Bangalore

“It's incredible,” said Hamilton. “I've visited India many times over the last couple of years and it's never been more exciting to be here than now.

“The race is only weeks away and you can really feel the growing passion of the people, and the excitement levels continuing to build.”