McLaren back Hamilton to bounce back

Lewis Hamilton will come back stronger at the Spanish Grand Prix following his disappointing performance in Bahrain last weekend.

That is the view of McLaren F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh, who reckons Hamilton will quickly put the dismal race behind him.

The Briton had a weekend to forget in Sakhir, first crashing heavily in practice and then losing all chances of a good result when he nearly stalled on the grid and then clashed with Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton, who dropped from first to third in the championship standings, said after the race that he felt he had let the team down.

“I think he`s disappointed, but he`s very strong-minded,” Whitmarsh said. “He had a reasonable qualifying run, but a practice accident meant Friday wasn`t his greatest day, and nor was Sunday.

“He won`t lose confidence, though. He believes in himself and knows he can get the job done. He`ll go away, rebuild and come back stronger in Spain.”

Whitmarsh said the team would analyse the problem Hamilton had with his start system.

“It was a procedural error - his engine was on the incorrect setting and that led to the anti-stall procedure kicking in, so he was swamped by everyone else as he tried to get away,” he explained.

“But as a team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes doesn`t habitually blame its drivers in public. Is the procedure clear? Is it simple enough? We have to look at all the details.”

Whitmarsh also downplayed suggestions that Alonso had `brake tested` Hamilton when the Briton crashed into the back of the Renault.

“There`s certainly no evidence that Fernando did anything wrong,” he said. “The impact damaged other elements of Lewis`s car apart from the wing - he just had to cope as best he could.”

Hamilton finished the race in 13th position and is now five points behind Kimi Raikkonen in the standings.

7.4.2008   ▪ Formula One    ▪ Hamilton, McLaren    ▪ www.autosport.com