Formula One News: Hamilton Bullish Despite Two Successive Retirements
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton has said he will not contemplate altering his racing style after being forced to retire from two successive races. The McLaren driver had to abandon last weekend’s race in Singapore after getting caught
up in a battle with Red Bull’s Mark Webber for third place. The Englishman’s overtaking manoeuvre went horribly wrong as he attempted to jump ahead of Webber during the 36th lap.
The two drivers inadvertently locked horns as they turned around the corner, and while the damage to Hamilton’s MP4-25 made it impossible for him to continue, Webber battled on. Stewards investigating the incident finally decided
that the Australian would not be penalized for his part in the clash, concluding that the tussle had been a mere racing incident rather than a folly of erroneous driving.
Bitterly disappointed with his second retirement in a row, Hamilton could be seen scowling deeply as he trudged his way back to the McLaren garage following the incident. After the dust had settled, the Englishman said he was not
to blame for the retirement. Hamilton explained he had not seen Webber approaching as he was turning around the corner.
The McLaren driver remarked, “I’m a racer. I always race my heart out, and nothing will ever change that. There were different circumstances behind each incident.”
Meanwhile, Webber was equally adamant he was not responsible for the incident. The Australian said he merely attempted to defend his position as Hamilton tried to steal the third spot from him. Although the two drivers steered
clear of playing the blame game, Red Bull boss Christian Horner hinted Hamilton had been a victim of his own aggressiveness in Singapore.
After his initial dejection at failing to collect any points from the last two events, Hamilton is now seeing things in a more positive light. The McLaren driver said that despite his two DNFs, he was still third in the championship
standings. And with just 25 points separating the top 5 contenders for the 2010 trophy, Hamilton knows he can quickly regain his edge in the remaining 4 races of the season.
With 182 points in the bag, Hamilton is 9 points adrift of Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and 20 points behind championship leader Mark Webber, who is stationed in the lead with 202 points. Very close behind Hamilton is Webber’s Red
Bull team mate, Sebastian Vettel, who has managed to climb up to accumulate 181 points so far. And not far back is Hamilton’s team mate, Jenson Button, who managed to bring his points tally to 177 after finishing 4th in Singapore.
Immediately after the accident in Singapore, Hamilton had remarked how his second retirement in a row might as well have sounded the death knell for his championship hopes. But in a recent interview, the 2008 Formula One world
champion seemed much more optimistic about his championship position. Hamilton said careful analysis of the current situation had shown he was still very much in the title contention and could bridge the gap over Alonso and Webber in the next four races with
a bit of luck.
Reflecting over his DNF status at the 2010 Italian Grand Prix, Hamilton insisted his retirement at Monza had been a product of his ill-fortune rather than an overly aggressively driving style as some critics had then pointed out.
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh offered support to his world champion driver, saying that he would certainly not ask Hamilton to change his driving philosophy. Aside from Hamilton’s non-finishes at the past two campaigns, Whitmarsh
might also be concerned about matching the ever-improving pace of the Ferrari F10’s and the Red Bull RB6’s. Hamilton’s McLaren team mate, Jenson Button, was unable to snatch the third spot from Red Bull’s Webber at Singapore despite beginning the race from
the 4th spot compared to the Australian drivers 5th. The Red Bull driver managed to finish ahead of Button in spite of having damaged his car around the front after his unfortunate tussle with Hamilton in the 36th lap. The
RB6’s Bridgestone tyres had almost given away towards the end of the race - a consequence of the Australian’s early pit stop in Singapore.
With 4 races to go and only 25 points between the top five championship contenders, the 2010 title race appears to be heading down the wire.
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