Lewis Hamilton has vowed to contribute to McLaren's off-track efforts ahead of the final seven races of 2010.

The team's factory is currently closed for a mandatory two-week shutdown, so the Briton headed from a difficult race in Hungary for a holiday.

But when Woking's doors re-open, Hamilton vowed to "be on the tail of all the team, all the engineers, making sure they don't miss anything" ahead of Spa-Francorchamps late this month.

"If we were not going on holiday I would love to go straight to the factory," he said.

"I'm not an engineer but I would drag the chief designer down to the wind tunnel, question him many times and try to understand it because that is what I do.

"Things I have suggested in the past have worked. I don't think I am going to come up with the idea this time, but the more you ask, the easier you get to the solution," added Hamilton.

The 25-year-old lost his championship lead with a gearbox failure at the Hungaroring, but the MP4-25 was off the pace all weekend.

In-season testing is banned, but Hamilton says there are other ways he can influence McLaren's push to improve.

"I feel it's just as much my job to kick them as it is for them to kick me," he said

62-year-old Luca di Montezemolo's fifth child has been born.

His 38-year-old third wife, Ludovica Andreoni, gave birth to Lupo -- whose direct siblings are sisters Guia (8) and Maria (6).

The Ferrari president's son Matteo (33) and daughter Clementine (29) are from previous marriages.

"It would have been nice to dedicate a win to Lupo, but it was not possible," said team boss Stefano Domenicali in Hungary.

"We have to admit it, this weekend, Red Bull was stronger than us, but we will definitely try again in Spa," he added.

Lewis Hamilton: It was a disappointment, yes, but you have to put it behind you. And you should never think too hard about the ‘what ifs' or the missed opportunities. It happened, and we move on - it's that simple. And, despite it being a difficult race, I can take some positives away from the Hungary weekend - I was able to pass a car on track, and the guys once again pulled off a perfect pit stop, to put me ahead of Felipe (Massa). And I also know we can come back even stronger in the final seven races. We have some very promising developments in the pipeline, and we're making progress in lots of other areas, too. We have dug deep before, and I know absolutely that we will dig deep once more. With the championship so closely balanced, this is the perfect time for a break. In effect, we'll resume the season as if it's the start of the year again: with everything to play for, and none of the top three teams lagging behind on points. That's really exciting!

LH: I think everyone in Formula One looks forward to this break. We kind of started looking forward to it a few weeks back, and everyone went into the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend knowing that it would be the last race for a while, and that everyone can relax once it's finished. The summer break is really necessary for the people in our sport - you can see on TV how hard the mechanics and engineers work at the racetrack, but you don't get to see how many hours the men and women are putting in back at the factory. And, believe me, it's a proper shutdown; it gives everybody the opportunity to forget about Formula One for a while and spend time away on their families, which is really important. As for me, I'm looking at getting away from it all for a little while. Where am I going? I don't think I'm going to say!

LH: We're extremely fortunate to have built a car that's not only enabled Jenson and myself to win races, but that's also been competitive at pretty much every Grand Prix we've been to. We haven't been up there at every race, and we had some fairly difficult weekends at places like Monaco and the Hungaroring, but, on the whole, we've been consistently fast, made very few mistakes and have usually scored the points we've deserved on the Sunday - which hasn't been true of every team. So, yes, I'm pleased with what we've achieved so far, but we know that this is really only the foundation for the championship battle, and that what awaits ahead of us will truly decide the title. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has been here before, of course; we know how to win, and we'll be doing everything we possibly can to make sure we're a fully competitive force as soon as the championship restarts at the end of the month. In fact, I can't wait for Spa - I wish it was next week!

The dark days following last month’s British Grand Prix saw Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso fall almost 50 points off the championship lead. Now he is riding high, just 20 shy of standings leader Mark Webber, and fresh from his second podium in as many races in Hungary, the Spaniard believes the title is still firmly in his sights.

“I think we have to be happy with our championship so far,” he told Ferrari’s official website. “We had some good races and some disappointing races as well, but overall I think we are in a really close position in the championship to the leader. There are five drivers fighting for the championship and there are seven races to go now. Anything can happen in these seven races, so we need to be the best one in this last part of the championship.”

If they are to emerge victorious at the end of the season Alonso knows Ferrari must remain cool, calm and collected, but with both team and driver more than familiar with the challenges of winning titles he is confident they can stay focused.

“We are in a position now that we are able to take the lead of the championship if we win one race,” he said. “I think we have to remain calm. We know that four or five drivers will fight until the last race, but we need to use our experience as a team. Ferrari have won so many championships, and my personal experience as well, fighting for three championships. We have to stay calm, and in these seven races get as many podiums as possible. I think continuity will be key to winning the championship.

“If you are the leader you are very stressed because every point you lose it fill you with dread and you feel you advantage disappears. If you are behind there isn’t any room to make mistakes. You need to take every opportunity, so it’s also very stressful because you have to recover points. I think in the situation we are now nobody feels they are leader of the championship and no one feels fearful. It is time to deliver now.”

Although Alonso took second place at last weekend’s Budapest race, the dominance of Red Bull’s package, which saw Sebastian Vettel clinch pole by over 1.2s from his third-placed Ferrari, was worrying. The former champion, however, is determined to concentrate on the long game.

“I think we at Ferrari need to think always about the win, we need to aim for pole positions and victories at every race we go,” he explained. “In Hungary obviously this was not possible, we were not as quick as our competitors, Red Bull, so there was a little bit of frustration, a little bit of disappointment in Budapest. I think with the medium to high-speed corners, and with not many straights, it was a perfect circuit for Red Bull, and we knew that. So we have to remain calm.

“The championship is 19 races, and for the overall picture of the 19 races, I think Ferrari has a very competitive package. We know that there will be some circuits that will suit our car, and we need to take the opportunity to win as we did in Germany. And there will be some circuits which maybe are not perfect for our characteristics, so we need to make the best of the race, as we did in Hungary by coming second on Sunday. Overall I think as a team we work very well in the last part of championships, and we always maximise our performance.”

With just over three weeks to go before the next event, and Formula One racing’s annual two-week shutdown to comply with, Alonso will have some time for reflection - and training - ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.

“I will try to train to be fit for the last seven races,” he concluded. “We know that five of them are away from Europe so it won’t be easy for us. We’ll need to be 100 percent ready mentally to fight for the championship and physically we’ll have to be 110 percent because we can’t lose any chance so I’ll train a lot.”

Alonso and his rivals will be back on track at Spa-Francorchamps from August 27-29.

It was. It was a very long afternoon. But, once again, I put some more points on the board - and, just by looking at the championship tables, and how close they are, it’s clear that every point definitely helps. And if you don’t have a good Saturday, then I’ve learnt that you’ve got to keep plugging away, and that it can reap dividends for you. So, four points might not sound like much, but it means that, despite Sunday’s result, I’m still only 14 points behind the championship leader, which is about six points in old money. So it’s all to play for. Clearly, though, we have some work to do to close the gap to the front. I know how hard everyone is working back at the MTC to make that happen, and I’m confident that we’ll be back in the hunt sooner rather than later.

JB: Clearly, it’s fantastic to have scored two wins and three podiums and to still be in the thick of the fight for the world championship. That’s why I joined this team. Lewis (Hamilton) and I are still very much in the hunt, even if the last few races haven’t seemed to favour our car as much as they did earlier this year. But I know the strength of this team, and our determination and ambition to hit back. We know what we’ve got to do, and I’m confident that we’ll be more competitive in both Spa and Monza, with more to come once we head off for the flyaways. As we’ve seen before in the fight for the world title, consistency is essential, and I think we’ve probably been the most consistent team over these 12 races. Obviously, we’ll be looking at raising our game, but it’s still valuable that we’re able to maintain that consistency - to be able to score good points even when luck’s not on our side - so we can continue to fight for the title until the very end of the season.

JB: I’m heading to Guernsey to finalise my preparation for next Sunday’s London Triathlon. I’m really looking forward to the event, and I’m still raising money for the Make A Wish Foundation. So there’s still time to sponsor me - you can go to www.justgiving.com/jb2010. It’s for a great cause, making dreams come true for very ill young children, and I’m proud to be playing my part to help them raise funds. My trainer Mikey will be joining me and some of my friends. It’s all for a good cause, so your donation would be extremely gratefully received. After the tri, I’ll definitely be looking to get away from it. But even though it’s a nice feeling to get away from Formula One for a while, you can guarantee that all the drivers will be desperate for the break to end because we’ll want to get back into the car. Still, the break is the perfect opportunity for all the mechanics and the engineers in the pit lane - they’ve been working pretty much non-stop since February, so this is a great chance for them to spend time with their families, and to forget about Formula One for a while.

Sebastian Vettel: Well, these are still good points but I should have won and a little negligence from my side trashed it all. I was so sure that the safety car would stay out a bit longer and the punishment I received for that lapse was quite severe. But it does not help to cry over spilled milk.

SV: I think the main issue was that in the first part of the race we lost the audio contact - what the reason was for that we will have to find out - and that was probably the start of all the misfortune. In the end I didn’t do myself any favours in giving Mark (Webber) so much space, as I have lost ground to him. I don’t have much more to say about it. I was fastest all weekend long and was always the faster of the two of us - except for the race.

SV: I was there in the car not knowing why I’d got a drive-through penalty, so understandably I was not too happy - and I showed it! Because after that penalty I was stuck behind that red car and from then on my race was over. I’d been much faster but on this track it’s impossible to overtake without the danger of sailing off the track and I wanted to bring these points back home.

SV: I don’t want to go out on a limb in this matter. It is just stupid to believe that I transgressed the distance to the safety car on purpose and as to whether the drive-through was a just measure I would not know. In Hockenheim a wrongdoing was punished with a fine - this time with a drive-through!

SV: Ah, that is never a problem for me. The following day I’ve put everything behind me. It’s simply not good to start reflecting on what could have happened without this lapse, because in this way you keep yourself stuck in something that is already a thing of the past. Sure, the summer break would have been a bit more relaxing with a win - especially when I was holding it almost in my hand and let it slip away.

New radio evidence might indicate that Ferrari will have a difficult task convincing the FIA that it did not deploy illegal team orders at Hockenheim.

The famous Italian team will face the governing body's new disciplinary panel in Paris in September, after Felipe Massa moved over for his teammate Fernando Alonso during the German race.

Until now, the only apparent evidence of the imposition of the team order was race engineer Rob Smedley's radio call to his Brazilian driver: "Fernando - is - faster - than - you -- can you confirm you understood that message".

Smedley later apologised to Massa, telling the 29-year-old he was "very, very magnanimous".

But new radio evidence would seem to reinforce suspicions that the "is faster than you" language was in fact a pre-arranged code that Massa understood as a direct order to pull over.

F1's official website has published a video edit of the German race that depicts Smedley relay a conventional message to Massa about Spaniard Alonso's superior pace.

"You need to pick up the pace, because Fernando is faster," the British engineer is heard to tell Massa.

And another message to Massa during their genuine on-track battle was: "Pretty close here, he's (Alonso) gonna go (through) -- you're going to have to defend".

It has also been suspected that Alonso requested the team order, after he said "this is ridiculous" whilst trying to conventionally overtake his teammate.

And he is heard to say during the official video edit: "I am much faster than Felipe."

His engineer Andrea Stella replied: "We got your message, we got your message."

Hopeful Spanish outfit Epsilon Euskadi has begun wind tunnel testing a scale model of its 2011 formula one car.

The Azkoitia based team, involved in single seater categories as well as Le Mans with a prototype car, has applied to fill the 13th F1 team entry for next year.

It is believed the FIA has already turned down some 2011 applicants, while the GP2 team ART and American group Cypher have pulled out of the running due to lack of funding.

It emerged this week that the governing body will interview the remaining contenders - probably Villeneuve/Durango and Stefan GP - in Paris next Friday.

It would also appear that Epsilon Euskadi, headed by former F1 team members Joan Villadelprat and engineer Sergio Rinland, is still in the running.

Rinland told the Argentine publication Corsa: "Last week we put the model in the wind tunnel for the first time.

"It went alright. The design is well advanced," added the former Williams, Brabham, Forti, Benetton, Sauber and Arrows engineer.

Rinland said Epsilon Euskadi has not even begun to think about a driver lineup.

"We have absolutely no thoughts (on drivers)," he said, albeit admitting that it would be "fantastic" if his Argentine countryman Esteban Guerrieri won the seat.

"But as I said, the issue of drivers is not being contemplated at this time," added Rinland.