F1: Whitmarsh Praises Hamilton Reaction

Formula 1

F1: Whitmarsh Praises Hamilton Reaction

Gearbox failure puts McLaren driver out of Singapore Formula One Grand Prix...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted September 24, 2012 Marina Bay (SGP)

Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and McLaren retires early from the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit. (Photo: Getty Images)

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has praised Lewis Hamilton for his dignified response to retiring from the lead in Singapore.

Hamilton took a philosophical approach when he met the media after the race.

“I’ve got to say Lewis has been incredibly strong,” said Whitmarsh. “I’ve spoken to Lewis first hand, and I’ve got to say he’s in a very focused frame of mind. He came round, thanked everyone in the team for all their efforts this weekend, and it was a much stronger minded Lewis than we’ve seen before.

“He’s very focused and he knows there’s 150 points still available and he knows that we are going to work hard to see if we can collect all of those or as many of them as we can.

“He was looking after his tires and driving well, and obviously a for him and for the team. I think he’s done a great job all weekend and it’s a shame that the race didn’t work out for him.

When asked by SPEED.com if he was convinced that Hamilton would have beaten Vettel come what may Whitmarsh was adamant.

“Without the gearbox problem, if nothing else had happened, I think yes, it was fairly evident that he was driving within himself, looking after his tires. You could see from how he was driving that he was taking it very easily.”

He also praised Jenson Button for his strong race: “Jenson was very unlucky because he ran a great first stint, conserving his tires, he had newer tires than other people in the second stint, and of course the safety car negated that. He was looking after his tires and was very much under control.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.