Hamilton lost the world championship lead to Kimi Raikkonen after a nightmare race in Bahrain, in which he made a series of errors and finished a lowly 13th.
But the Briton reckons his troubles there and at the previous grand prix in Malaysia – where he was thwarted by a grid penalty and a botched pit stop – have masked the MP4-23 cars true potential.
“The reason we were so slow in Bahrain was because Id damaged the car so badly so there were a few bits missing,” he told ITV Sports Ted Kravitz on Thursday.
“But I think performance-wise weve got a very strong package; its just that in the last two races things havent come together to really show our true pace.
“I think this weekend we have the opportunity to do that, and fingers crossed we will.”
Most teams have brought revised cars to the first European race this weekend, and Hamilton believes McLaren has made significant strides.
“The team have been working very hard over the last few months making sure we have a good update package for this race,” he said.
“I think all the other teams have made a step forward, so my guess is as good as yours but well find out tomorrow.”
