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Hamilton 'determined to fight' for Korea victory

McLaren was unable to match the pace of Red Bull at Japan on Sunday © Press Association

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• Race:
• Korean Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Lewis Hamilton

• Teams:
• McLaren

Lewis Hamilton says he is "determined to fight" for victory in the Korean Grand Prix after finishing fifth in Japan.

With Fernando Alonso retiring Hamilton had an opportunity to significantly close the gap to the championship leader at Suzuka, but an understeering car in qualifying and the first half of the race restricted him to fifth place. By the end of the race, however, Hamilton said he was pleased with his car and that has given him confidence that better pace will translate to Korea.

"The car that I ended the race with in Japan felt great - and I'm confident that we'll kick off the race weekend in Korea with a strong package," Hamilton said. "I put the car on pole there last year. That was a very significant moment for me - I'd been trying so hard all year to get a pole, and it took everything I had to get the best out of the car. It was a huge effort, and a bit overwhelming at the time."

Hamilton finished second last year despite a front wing issue, and having also been second in 2010 he believes the key to going one better is having a clean weekend.

"In the race, unfortunately, we just didn't have the pace to stay with Sebastian [Vettel] in the Red Bull - he was able to dive past me and pull away. I still managed to finish second, though: it was an unbelievably tough race - I had a handling problem because the front wing was clogged up with tyre debris, so I had to try everything to keep Mark [Webber] behind me.

"I think we've had the potential to win both Korean Grands Prix in the past, but I've never had a race weekend there on which everything has gone quite right for me. We've got momentum on our side once again, so I head to Korea determined to fight for victory."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.