ISTANBUL - Struggling world drivers champion Lewis Hamilton was searching for the positives after failing to score a point and being lapped in Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix.

The 24-year-old Briton came home one place ahead of his McLaren Mercedes team-mate Heikki Kovalainen after a tough contest won in hot conditions by Jenson Button in a Brawn.

Hamilton's satisfaction with his own performance marked a change in his attitude that many observers suggested signalled he had come to terms with his own misfortune this season in having an uncompetitive car.

Hamilton said: "I actually thoroughly enjoyed the race - even though I was so far back. I was so heavy (with fuel) at the start, but I pushed and pushed and I'm smiling now because I feel like I got the very best out of the car.

"I'll say to the (McLaren) guys not to get downbeat - yes we might not challenge for wins this year, but let's knuckle down and make sure we bounce back from this - especially next year.

"I'm still looking forward to Silverstone next up. It's going to be great to see the fans and to try and give them something to cheer -- and I want to wish Jenson Button all the very best, I'm really happy for him."

Earlier, when asked if he believed the McLaren team should have scrapped their car and introduced a new one, he said: "It is too late to do it now.

"We probably should have done that a long time ago, but who knows. It is easy to say that now, but in this race we might find (an improvement) or the next race we might find it.

"And it would be a lot of waste of money and hard work from all the guys who have put all the work and effort into this car.

"But with the way the world is and the economy is, it could take five or six months to rebuild a car and make sure you get it right, and who's to say we would get it wrong."

Hamilton said the team is still not much closer to understanding what has gone wrong with the car this year despite having seen rivals Ferrari turn around their disappointing start to the season.

"With the other guys, (Ferrari) they have clearly got good foundations to work from," he said.

"Ferrari's car looked good from the beginning, it just lacked a little bit of down-force. They have got that now so they are more competitive.

"But I think for us we lacked the down-force from a very early stage. I am sure we have all the down-force; we are just not able to get it out of the car. Something switches it off in the high-speed corners for some reason."