Hamilton not McLaren No. 1

Hamilton: Still has equal status

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Lewis Hamilton says he will not be receiving preferential treatment from McLaren after opening up a clear points gap on team-mate Jenson Button.

Hamilton is now 35 points ahead of Button in the Formula One championship standings after winning the Belgian Grand Prix while the reigning world champion was taken out by Sebastian Vettel.

But the 25-year-old does not feel he should be given the status of team leader and says the championship picture can turn on its head in the last six races.

He said: "I get the same treatment as Jenson and vice versa and that enables us both to score maximum points and so I don't feel there should be any preferential treatment.

"Obviously the team do the best they can to the maximum for each of us. There's no more they can do."

Contenders

Button, Vettel and Fernando Alonso all failed to score on Sunday but Hamilton dismissed suggestions that the title race is now a two-way fight between himself and Mark Webber, who came second at Spa.

"You've seen in the last few races how quickly things can change," Hamilton added.

"We still have a long way to go and there are still many points to be grabbed by any of the drivers who are fighting for the title.

"Clearly for me my closest rival in the championship is Mark in terms of points, but I still think the championship is open."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also says his team will not yet throw all their weight behind Webber's world title bid.

Tangle

Webber is only three points behind Hamilton with team-mate Vettel now 28 adrift of the Australian after his dramatic tangle with Button.

And after the race Webber hinted that he may be expecting the full support of his team in the near future when saying that the point at which he should be given number one status was "not too far away".

But Horner believes it is too early to be aborting Vettel's title bid in favour of Webber as the championship picture can change very quickly.

"There are 150 points still available and the two guys have broken away a little bit from the rest of the pack - with the other three title protagonists not scoring," he told Autosport.

"But I think it is still too early to be contemplating that (supporting one driver).

"All five are still in this Championship and, with the way the points scoring is, the gaps can look deceptive because, while they look quite large, in reality they can reduce dramatically very, very quickly.

"150 points are still on the board, and it is a bit premature to be talking about that at the moment."