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McLaren Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain adjusts his ear plugs before a qualifying session at Hungaroring race track near Budapest August 2, 2008. Hungarian Formula one Grand Prix will take place on August 3, 2008 in the HungaroringREUTERS/Laszlo Balogh(HUNGARY)
LONDON (Reuters) - Lewis Hamilton, refreshed after a holiday, hopes to produce consistent results in the second half of the Formula One season and win the drivers' title.
The 23-year-old Briton, who leads this year's championship, said on Friday he had enjoyed the three-week August break and felt revitalised for the final run-in starting at the European Grand Prix in Valencia on Aug. 24.
"It has given me a chance to recharge my batteries," Hamilton said.
"Looking back at the season so far, it feels like a different championship compared to last year: 2007 was very intense and consistency was incredibly important.
"This year, everybody's results have been more varied and every driver who has won a race has also failed to score on at least two other occasions. That's made getting strong results even more important but I think we'll see consistency becoming crucial as we head towards the end of the season."
Hamilton became the first driver this year to win two successive races when he triumphed at Silverstone in the British Grand Prix and at the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim.
The McLaren driver was unable to complete a rare hat-trick in Hungary where he had a puncture and was out-raced by Brazilian Felipe Massa in a Ferrari. Hamilton finished fourth after recovering while Massa suffered an engine failure.
In a team preview, looking ahead to the race in Spain on Valencia's new street circuit, Hamilton added: "I'm wary of making predictions. The race in Hungary showed just how unpredictable Formula One can be and that's one of the reasons why it's such a fascinating sport.
"Clearly, though, I am still in a good position to challenge for the world championship and that remains my aim. We still feel confident about our chances -- we know our rivals will be strong but we've worked hard to improve the car and we are confident we'll be competitive.
"The most important thing is to finish consistently in the points."
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