Hamilton bullish about return to Europe

LONDON, England (CNN) -- McLaren's Lewis Hamilton is ebullient about the team's chances heading into the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

The Briton, who has been testing at the Circuit de Catalunya this week, says he is feeling much more at home back in Europe.

"This is when it really starts getting busy. You are closer to home, closer to the team, it is a great feeling," he said

An upbeat Hamilton appeared to have left his recent difficulties behind.

The Briton crashed badly in the practice runs in Bahrain and then struggled on race day, missing the start and hitting former team-mate Fernando Alonso before finishing 13th.

"You learn something at every race, even if you win. I think we have come along way and looking to the next race I feel very, very confident we can do a better job," Hamilton said.

He also felt "more comfortable" in his McLaren after completing testing in Barcelona.

Meanwhile, heavy rain on Thursday spoilt the fourth and final day of testing in Barcelona. Red Bull's Mark Webber recorded the fastest time -- 1m21.953 -- followed nearly two seconds back by Hamilton's team-mate, Heikki Kovalainen.

The wet weather slowed down the drivers considerably, Webber's time three seconds slower than the fastest lap of the week, set by Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

It proved frustrating for the teams, Toyota's Jarno Trulli saying the rain meant they did not expect "too much progress." He added: "When we finally did some running we put in a few laps of wet set-up but with the track changing so much it is always hard to draw too many conclusions.

"When we return here next week [for the Spanish Grand Prix] the conditions will be different again. But we have had some solid days of testing here this year so we can head into the race with confidence."

Honda's Jenson Button was disappointed after the rain ruined his only day in the car during the week's testing.

"I was only able to complete 42 laps, mostly on wet tires, and could not really gather any information from those laps. Thankfully the team had three good days of testing earlier in the week." E-mail to a friend

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