“I raced my heart out as always but we just struggled, we did not have
enough speed in general.
“I wish we could have done better at my home grand prix but the others
have clearly made another step forward so it was a real tough race.
“We have a lot of time to find from somewhere, we need a lot of downforce
from somewhere.
“I don’t know where the guys can find that but I really pray that they
can find it.”
McLaren have little time to find the required improvements to the MP4-27 with
just two weeks until the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.
Hamilton does not expect an upturn in form to arrive in time for that race,
one of three taking place over four weekends during a crucial phase of the
season.
“I am sure we will have a very similar car (at Hockenheim) but with some
upgrades,” he said.
“I hope we can have a better race. These guys in front have really picked
up.
“Mercedes, Lotus, Red Bull and Ferrari have all picked up a lot of pace
so we are a little bit behind at the moment.
“I expected us to get at least fifth place but those four teams in front
of us were much quicker than us.
“The fans were incredible this weekend and it’s a shame we couldn’t give
them a better result.”
Button was similarly bleak in his assessment of the team’s speed.
He said: “The cars I was racing with, the Saubers and Williams, I was
surprised I was racing with them because they must have had bad strategies
or something as they were much much quicker than me.
“It was a disappointing day and as a team we have a lot of work to do.”