Hamilton blasts team for cock-up
Sunday 10th July 2011
Lewis Hamilton has blamed his McLaren team for their cock-up in the British Grand Prix qualifying, which left him 10th on the grid for Sunday's main race.
It was his worst qualifying result since last year's Malaysia Grand Prix, where McLaren messed up in a rain-hit qualifying session.
Meanwhile, team-mate Jenson Button fared much better than the 26-year-old, and will start in fifth spot for his home race, which he has never won in 11 attempts.
Hamilton's hopes were ruined when his team held back a set of fresh tyres until the end of Saturday's top 10 shoot-out - only to see it rain, while his main rivals all banked their fastest time on clean rubber.
And you could understand the former world champion's disappointment.
"We didn't do a good job of qualifying. I can't see the weather forecast from inside the car. I kept asking my guy, 'What is the weather doing?'," he was quoted as saying in The News of the World.
"Everyone else went out on new tyres. We went on old ones. By the time we got the new tyres on, it was raining.
"The guys didn't select the right tyres at the right time. I should be making the decisions. It's going to be a long season. We might have run out of miracles."
Meanwhile, Red Bull's Mark Webber clinched pole position for Sunday's race at Silverstone, finishing two seconds ahead of Hamilton in qualifying.
The latest cock-up is likely to pile more pressure on McLaren chief Whitmarsh as his team face a third year without winning either the drivers' or constructors' titles.
He admitted: "We did not put on a competitive showing.The team made a mistake in that Lewis went out on used tyres.
"We let him down. We know we are not quick enough. But we will regroup.
"Do we concentrate on trying to win the championship? That's probably the wrong focus. It must be getting back to being competitive as quickly as possible."
Credit: ESPN STAR (www.espnstar.com)
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