Lewis Hamilton is not discouraged by Mercedes' current competitiveness

Lewis Hamilton says he is not discouraged by the difficult task he will have to undertake when he joins Mercedes next year, despite his future team's difficult time at the end of the season.

Hamilton remains fully focused for now on trying to help McLaren win as many races as possible, but Mercedes' crisis has not escaped his attention.

When asked in Abu Dhabi how the fact that Mercedes have not picked up a single point in the last three races makes him feel, Hamilton said: "I will do my best to try and score as many points as possible!"

He added: “I am very happy with the decision I made and these problems will not affect my choice.”

“Sometimes people lose their way, even we have struggled in the past to score points.”

“But I'm not very focused on them to understand what problems they had with the car or anything.”

“I'm focused on trying to get this constructors' championship for the team, and trying to get maximum points for us. In theory it is still possible for us to win the constructors' championship, so we will be very motivated."

Hamilton said he already knew of the great challenge he will face as part of Mercedes, although he hinted that his task might be a little more difficult in recent weeks.

“I already knew when I made the decision,” he said. “I knew how big it was. I really thought about it a lot and could see how big it was. Maybe it's growing as a task, but I'm excited.”

“I'm really, really excited to meet new people, to be in a different environment and get to shape myself in this environment.”

Current teammate Jenson Button believes Hamilton will face a difficult time next year getting used to a new team, and may find difficulties he didn't expect.

“I think the first year with a new team is always a little difficult,” he said. “It's a new experience for Lewis and I'm sure he's thrilled.”

“He's a fast driver, but sometimes it's not so easy to win Grands Prix and to build a team around you and help a team achieve good results.”