Writing on wall for Lewis

LEWIS HAMILTON believes he will know by the end of Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix whether he can realistically retain his world title.

Hamilton has already made it clear he is not expecting to be at the head of affairs at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya as he feels it is not a track that suits his McLaren.

However, the 24-year-old is hoping he and his team will at least be able to hold onto the coat-tails of the leading teams, Brawn GP, Red Bull Racing and Toyota.

"I guess this weekend is a good indication of whether we will be able to continue our progress or not," said the world champion, as McLaren have been the most improved team race on race this season.

"We have a couple of things on the car, but we don't have a lot of things that are radical steps for us. It is just bit by bit we are adding stuff to the car.

"This weekend it will be interesting to see how far everyone else has stepped forward. The difficult thing is whilst we progress everyone else progresses."