LEWIS Hamilton has admitted he is struggling to summon the energy required to overcome his current run of poor form.

Hamilton knows he has a car beneath him in which he should be winning races, as McLaren team-mate Jenson Button proved by winning Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.

After a run of five grands prix without a podium, Hamilton knows there are no excuses - no hiding behind a poor car or team mistakes - and concedes it is all about him and his performances.

It has become a case of digging deep and ploughing through the bad times in the hope the good will again emerge, as was the case in his debut season in 2007 and title-winning campaign of 2008.

“Back then I probably had a lot more energy to be able to fight through something like this,” said Hamilton.

“We were in an amazing position.

“I had an amazing car, one I could come back and really fight with, but in recent years I’ve not had that.

“Now we do, but there are other things that get in the way.

“Now it is personal, it is human errors, and there’s nothing you can do about it other than to try and correct those.

“When you are not performing you take it personally because there is no one else to take the blame, no one else to feel the pain. It is all within you.

“I perhaps feel it more than other people, and the last five races have been very disappointing.

“It’s the longest period of poor races I’ve had, and it’s been tough.