A saddened Lewis Hamilton hopes there is light at the end of the tunnel for his former team McLaren and fellow F1 fallen giant Williams.

With a combined 296 race wins and 36 world titles, the two depressed outfits remain among the sport's most successful teams in history, only preceded by Ferrari.

But neither outfit has won a Grand Prix since 2012, both squad's progressively losing their lustre over the years following a prolonged period of underperformance.

As a former McLaren man who won his first title with the Woking-based team in 2008, Hamilton admits the fall from glory - of both outfits - is a painful sight.

"I've never hidden the fact that it's sad to see, naturally, just as it is sad to see a team that I grew up watching like Williams not be there," said the current leader of the world championship.

"It is crazy to think we've got Williams right at the back of the field who once had Nigel Mansell in the car and Damon Hill, winning championships. And McLaren, who were really the founding family for me, also having a struggle for a long period of time.

"I really just hope there is light at the end of the tunnel for them," he added.

"I hope that 2021, whatever is decided with Liberty, I hope that helps and that they do a good job in that decision-making process and that potentially helps."

Hamilton conceded that remaining a front-runner in F1 and sustaining a high level of performance over the years were massive challenges, adding that his experience had taught him that there was a fine line between success and failure.

"As I get older and understand business more and people like Toto [Wolff] and how they run an organisation, it becomes a lot clearer for me how things can also go wrong - as it once did for example with this team, with different figureheads at the top, different structure and all those different things," he added.

"Business anywhere is not easy to get right."

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