British Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton positive after fightback

Lewis Hamilton thinks he would have won the British Grand Prix had it not been for the tyre failure that sent him to the back of the field.

The Mercedes driver, 28, fought back to finish fourth after being one of four drivers affected by blowouts.

Hamilton, who led Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel when his left rear tyre failed on lap eight, said: "I don't think winning would have been a problem.

"There's all this talk about the tyres but there's massive positives."

The Briton's team-mate, Nico Rosberg, held off Mark Webber of Red Bull to win while Vettel retired with a gearbox failure.

Hamilton remains fourth in the championship, 42 points behind Vettel and also trailing Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, third at Silverstone, and Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, who was fifth.

He said: "Nico won and we got some good points. We're second in the constructors' (championship) now. That's a real big plus.

"I'm grateful I was able to come back through the field and get the points I did. We've got a good car.

"The improvements we've made for tyre degradation have helped and I really hope we can be more competitive."

Asked if he felt he was now in a position to challenge for the championship, Hamilton said: "I'm just trying to stay within shooting distance, just trying to stay in the fight. I'm looking forward to the next races and I hope at some stage my time will come."

Mercedes have struggled with heavy tyre usage so far this season but Hamilton said their ability to race competitively with Red Bull at the front on a sunny day and on one of the season's most demanding tracks was encouraging.

"We were matching the Red Bulls," he said. "Webber was quite quick at the end. I don't think we've overtaken them. We've closed the gap in terms of looking after our tyres, which is positive."