Martin Whitmarsh says he is sad to see Lewis Hamilton leave McLaren – Formula 1 news
Martin Whitmarsh, who is the team principal for McLaren, has admitted that he is sad to see Lewis Hamilton leaving the team to join Mercedes from 2013.
“I'm very sad about it because I've known him personally for over 15 years,” Whitmarsh said. “I've seen him through some great, great moments. He's a great human being, a great asset to any team, so of course I'm disappointed he's going. It's emotional,
but we're a tough team, we've got to get on. We've got the makings of a good car next year, he's been a friend and a colleague for a long time; next year he'll be a competitor and we'll try and beat him.”
While Whitmarsh said that he does not have any ill feelings for Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg colliding with Hamilton, it was still disappointing to see the driver retire from the lead and not finish on the podium. He told that the Brazilian GP was really
exciting for all the drivers; it made the championship fight all the more thrilling and was also very exciting for the fans. He appreciated the other McLaren driver, Jenson Button, for winning the race. He stated that Hamilton was doing great and was only
hindered by Hulkenberg which according to him was just a racing incident.
Earlier in the season, the team principal had stated that Hamilton is making a mistake to quit and then later said that the driver might have regrets. Hamilton has denied having any regrets. There were also speculations that things were not right between
Hamilton and McLaren chairman Ron Dennis. However, Dennis has made it clear that there is no truth to that.
Whitmarsh is replacing Hamilton with Sauber F1’s Sergio Perez who impressed him with his podium finishes earlier in the season. He said that while the driver is young, he has the potential to learn.
On the other hand, Hamilton will be replacing the retiring Michael Schumacher at Mercedes. The driver has stated that his aim is to compete for this struggling team and bring as many race wins as possible in the next season.
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