McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh feels Lewis Hamilton went a touch too far in proving to the fans he has lost none of his racing spirit. It was, as Whitmarsh described, "another very painful weekend" for McLaren as the world champion Hamilton finished a miserable 16th in the British Grand Prix, while Heikki Kovalainen crashed out. The majority of the 120,000 sell-out crowd at Silverstone roared their approval when he diced with old rival Fernando Alonso at one point, before a late spin consigned him to his lowly finish, having started 19th on the grid.
And when he crossed the line, they again hailed their hero before he repaid them in kind with donut spins at Copse and Stowe that had his team principal squirming in his seat. "It would be very easy in these situations to go and hide," said Whitmarsh of Hamilton's combative display. "But he was there, and he gave an exuberant performance on the slow-down lap, one which wasn't necessarily good for the engine and gearbox we need to use again! But I'm sure the people down in Stowe and Copse appreciated it."
"He is a passionate individual. You can tell he is pushing, trying in what has been a difficult season in all sorts of ways. "Lewis is someone who is used to winning, someone who throughout his entire career has had competitive equipment. "Now he is dealing with the fact he is in a tough season where we don't have the equipment to give him the chance to challenge for a win." A year ago Hamilton thrilled his home fans with a stunning 68-second win in the wet, leaving Whitmarsh to reflect on how times have changed.
"It was one of those 'what a difference a year makes' when you look at where we were this time last year, and where we are now," added Whitmarsh. "There were some positives from this weekend in terms of learning, so we will take those, but none in terms of the outright result, so we'll keep pushing. "We'll make sure we keep putting the right amount of effort into next year, keep focused on understanding what the issues are and making sure we address them and that the lessons are learned."
* PA Sport
