Martin Whitmarsh defends Lewis Hamilton over Singapore loss
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has expressed his support of 2008 Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton over his costly accident at last weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix. The Briton, who also
crashed out at Monza, was forced to retire when a blown tyre triggered by a collision with Mark Webber’s Red Bull vehicle occurred.
The loss has pushed Hamilton down into third place in the driver’s championship, 20 points behind Webber. Yet Whitmarsh, who stood by Hamilton’s bold style of driving in Italy, stated that the driver was
not to blame for the incident.
“I think Lewis was very unlucky," Whitmarsh reflected. “I am sure people may look at two races [and think] we have an incident, but if you look at what happened today, Lewis did not make a late lunge.
What happened in Monza was a bit opportunistic, but if you look at the position of Lewis in Monza versus the Ferrari, then it was almost reverse of what happened today. He got past, he was in the lead and went for the corner and left a bit of space – but Mark
was lucky to get away with it.”
Yet Whitmarsh harboured no strong feelings against Webber, claiming that, “I think Mark has got to race as well,” adding that “The important thing from my perspective was that from Lewis it was not a desperate
overtaking; it was a solid overtaking manoeuvre.
He added: "I don't believe Lewis did anything wrong. I am not trying to get into the blame game but I think he made a good overtaking manoeuvre. Whenever you overtake someone, if they are not going to
comply or ease then there is a degree of risk, but this was not a late-braking or late-lunge. He got past on the straight, he was ahead going into that corner. He reasonably expected to be able to determine his line, he left a bit of space for Mark and I think
Mark was committed quite late and not able to go through on the inside. He hit Lewis. Mark was very lucky to get away with it absolutely and Lewis was very unlucky. But there is no blame attached to Lewis for what happened today. I believe what Lewis did was
right.”
Hamilton has come under continuous pressure for his daring style of racing, which has thus far cost him a potential 25 points this season. But Whitmarsh has continued to stand by the young talent, declaring
that Hamilton’s current style of racing not only adds to the team dynamic, but is also what makes him such a distinctive icon on the F1 circuit. Nevertheless, Hamilton has resolved to learn from his experiences.
“Twenty points is a massive gap with four races to go,” Hamilton acknowledged, according to BBC Sport. “[But] I have to hope for something. The points gap is just a race victory away. It’s not insurmountable.”
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