Lewis Hamilton has admitted neither he nor his car have been at their best for the last two races but insists he can hold off the challenge of McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso and become Formula One world champion.

Alonso had the better of Hamilton in Italy and Belgium and the Spaniard has chipped away at Hamilton's lead in the last three grands prix.

As a result, Alonso - seeking to defend the drivers' title - is just two points behind with three races remaining in Japan, China and Brazil.

Hamilton appeared distracted at Spa, making a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes that, fortunately for him, did not prove costly.

In contrast, Alonso appears at one with a car he struggled with at the start of the season as he was new to McLaren, while his experience as double world champion is also starting to play a part.

He concedes he now has ''everything under control'', and that he is ''more comfortable with the car, the team, with everything''.

A visit to Paris for the spy scandal hearing on Thursday hardly helped Hamilton in his preparation and the young Englishman insisted his week had been tougher than Alonso's.

The Spaniard then bullied Hamilton at the first corner La Source hairpin, forcing the 22-year-old off the track - a manoeuvre that ultimately decided their third and fourth positions.

Hamilton said: ''It is always an advantage when you start the weekend ahead, but you can chip away at that and it is a lot smaller at the end of the weekend.

''But for the last couple of weekends I haven't been able to fully fine-tune the car and feel 100per cent. When that happens you are bound to lose.

''It's also easier when you're chasing someone than defending. When you are leading it's a lot harder to maintain consistency.''

Although he is a rookie, Hamilton is unconcerned his inexperience will count against him over the closing three races.

''I am not worried about it,'' insisted Hamilton. "I still feel positive. I know it's difficult to believe that, but I'm still leading the world championship by two points, and he only took one point from me on Sunday.''