McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has defended Lewis Hamilton amid criticism of the former champion's aggressive defensive tactics in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Hamilton was shown a driving standards warning flag after weaving from side to side on the pits straight while Renault's Vitaly Petrov was lining up behind him and preparing to overtake. Whitmarsh insisted that as Hamilton had been trying to break the slipstream and prevent Petrov getting a run on him, rather than moving across when the Russian was already alongside, the move was perfectly acceptable.
“The stewards looked at this and decided not to penalise Lewis," Whitmarsh said. "Lewis was seeking to break the tow, not prevent an overtaking move. As always Lewis drives and races passionately, but always seeks to be entirely safe.”
Hamilton's driving in Malaysia has been frowned upon by other drivers, and is expected to be discussed in the Grand Prix Drivers' Association meeting today (Friday).
"If he was beside me I would have given him some b******ing because it wasn't right," veteran Rubens Barrichello told Autosport. "There are arguments to cover that, to say that he was under acceleration, not in the braking area. There are so many things that they could come up with, but the drivers have an agreement, sort of an agreement, obviously a verbal agreement, nothing that has been signed, that you should move only once during the protection of your line.
So that for me was a Formula Ford thing. It shouldn't have been done, to be honest."
Renault's Robert Kubica added that he had been surprised to see moves like Hamilton's taking place. "Reading the regulations, I'm clear on the rules]," he said. "Watching Malaysia, I'm not so clear..."
But he pointed out that it was not just Hamilton whose driving had been questionable. "I don't think it was only one driver who did more than one move," Kubica said.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
I always THOUGHT it was understood that a driver may make only one move to defend his position. I didn't think it only applied if the driver ahead was in a braking zone. This used to come up frequently with regard to a certain M. Schumacher and at the start of a race when everyone was under maximum acceleration.
Let's turn this around. What if it had been Petrov doing this to Lewis? Do you think the stewards would have said "Oh, tut, tut. Let's not do that again or we shall become very cross." ? Ah HAH! My point is made.
