The 40-year-old driver - who switched to Ferrari after 12 years with Mercedes - has failed to score a podium finish after 13 of the season's 24 rounds and he has admitted the past few months with his new team have been "a real battle".

Speaking to media ahead of the final race before the break in Hungary in this weekend, Hamilton said: "The last god knows how many seasons have been hard in their own way. This one has definitely been the most intense one, I would say, just from a work perspective.

"Integrating into a new culture and into a new team. It's not gone smoothly in all areas, and it's been a real battle.

"I definitely need to get away and recharge, be around the kids, laugh, let go. I'm sure there'll be some tears at some point and I think that's really healthy."

However, Lewis insisted he is determined for his partnership with Ferrari to be successful.

He added: "But I'm always excited to race. I love what I do, I love being in red, I love working with this team, I have such belief in this team.

"It's really hard to explain. I already had it a lot when I was in my previous team. Over time, you really build that camaraderie, and I see the passion in this team and I love it.

"All I want to do is contribute the best that I can. Of course I need to do that mostly on track, and I'm not always hitting that, but also in the background.

"I see there's things that we can always improve and there's things that I can improve on. I'm just really excited for this break.

"I think for everybody, particularly the guys at the factory, they'll definitely enjoy this time with their family and then we'll come back extra energised for the second half."