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McLaren chief refuses to blame Lewis Hamilton for late crash
14 Sep 2009McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is adamant he would not change Lewis Hamilton, despite his "unquenchable desire" costing the team third place in the Italian Grand Prix.
Although starting from pole, Hamilton and McLaren were aware their two-stop strategy was not a race-winning one compared to the one-stop plan for Brawn duo Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button.
Over the closing stages it left the reigning world champion running in third, albeit gaining on Button as virtually each lap passed.
With half a lap remaining and having moved to within a second of Button, Hamilton put too much of his front-left wheel onto a kerb, sending him into a spin and a heavy crash into a tyre wall.
Whitmarsh was naturally unable to hide his disappointment, but knows you cannot change Hamilton the "hardcore racer" as the 24-year-old described himself after the race.
"There's no point my denying we'd expected to achieve a lot more here at Monza than a sixth place (from Heikki Kovalainen) and a DNF," said Whitmarsh.
"Looking at the positives, though, thankfully Lewis walked away unharmed from what was a pretty big shunt.
"That was simply the result of his never-give-up attitude, his unquenchable desire to fight until the very last metre of the very last lap.
"Throughout the final stint he'd been pushing as hard as he possibly could, driving beautifully, right on the limit, in an effort to catch Jenson for second.
"But he pushed just a fraction too hard, and the result was he lost it on the exit of the first Lesmo (bend) on that final lap.
"But that's the nature of a driver like Lewis, and there aren't many like him.
"If you give it 100% on every single lap, every so often you'll give it 101%, and then the result will be an 'off'.
"But that's racing, and Lewis is very definitely a racer, and we wouldn't want him any other way."
All Hamilton could do was apologise to his team for his mistake, but not for the driver he is.
"I truly believed I could get Jenson," said Hamilton.
"That was the way I was raised, to never give up.
"If we were fighting for the world championship it would have been a slightly different scenario.
"Perhaps I would have put a lot more thought into just getting the points, as we've learned in the past.
"But I still wanted to win. I wanted to catch them up and overtake, so I gave it my absolute all.
"I was fastest in the first sector on that last lap, but I went a little bit wide on the kerb which spun me round and I had a heavy impact. These things happen.
"I'm sincerely sorry to my team, but they know me, and they know I do absolutely everything I can to win races for them, that I never give up."
Reader views (7)
What ever they say agaist Lewis Hamilton he is very exciting to watch.He really trys hard to win races and sometimes it's not his fault whatever results he achieves.Brawn is a very good strategist and that's why Schumacer achieved so much success during his years racing for Ferrari and he wasn't so exceptional and exciting as Hamilton. Lewis still young and though he is more matured from the first races in F1 still consider him to win much more championships if not as Schumi but not so very far off.
- Thomas-Philip Harmsworth, Sta. Venera Malta, 15/09/2009 11:29
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What a clown Hamilton is, think Mclaren need to find a way to steal everyone else's plans and cheat which they have been so succssful at in the past.
Thank god F1 isn't a real sport otherwise it would be a crying shame.
- Luke, farnham uk, 14/09/2009 23:43
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I believe Lewis is the best and Mclaren would make a big mistake if they let him go. he is a excellent driver and fills you with great excitement watching him on the race track. it fills me with anger the way he get picked on.I believe there is still lots of championships in lewis yet so you go for it lewis and don't let them get to you. We are all behind you. you are a fantastic racer and a dream to watch. He is also a fair and honest guy from what i've noticed as well and wishes his team mates well including from other teams.
- Pam Briggs, Huddersfield West Yorkshire, 14/09/2009 14:07
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Full marks to Lewis for trying to win. He is not in the running for the championship this year, nor are Mc Laren in the running for the constructors title. A win therefore was worth an awful lot more than a second place so his 'unquenchable' ambition was more than justified. Maybe next year, he will start with a competitive car and win another deserved championship. Meanwhile, well done to Brawn and Jensen Button. Hope Jensen wins his first World Championship very soon.
- Bob Pyle, Pretoria, South Africa, 14/09/2009 13:58
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If you are on pole position in a grand prix you have to take the one stop option in order to increase your chances of a win.It hardly takes rocket science to come to that conclusion.
- Perry Neeham, Chatham,Kent UK., 14/09/2009 13:57
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Ah! Good 'ol Lewis Hamilton - the clown of F1!!!
- Ih, Antrim, 14/09/2009 13:28
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lewis is great for f1 and mclaren - a real racer. whitmarsh knows that and so does the team. exciting stuff.
- Dc, london, 14/09/2009 08:51
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