It’s not different handling Hamilton: McLaren Team Principal

Hamilton has tremendous control over the car that reflects in his overtaking skills.

Lewis Hamilton’s love for aggressive driving has often drawn criticisms,but McLaren Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh today backed the British driver,saying it’s a pleasure to have him in the side.

Hamilton has been involved in many crashes because of his driving style. But at the same time he has tremendous control over the car that reflects in his overtaking skills. In 2010 he had 32 overtakes in four races.

Asked how difficult it is to handle a driver with such temperament,Whitmarsh said it did not make much of a difference.

Story continues below this ad

“To be honest,it’s not different. We have seen him develop. Helped him and guided him. He is very self critical. He draws a lot of attention because of the star quality. He gets more focus and there is high level of scrutiny. We are pleased to have him in the team,” Whitmarsh said.

Even in today’s inaugural Indian Grand Prix,Hamilton and old foe,Ferrari’s Felipe Massa collided although it was the Brazilian who was at fault.

Hamilton has been going through a personal crisis since his relationship with singer girlfriend Nicole Scherzinge ended recently.

Asked how the team management responds when such a scenario appears and if drivers like interference in personal matters,Whitmarsh said they support their racers.

Story continues below this ad

“It depends on the nature of the crisis and the relationship of the management. We need to support them as drivers are valuable assets of the team,” he said. Whitmarsh also said that there is healthy competition between him and Jenson Button.

“We have two champions in the side. No doubt they want to beat each other,” he said.

Button had won the drivers’ championship in 2009 and Hamilton won it in 2008.

EXCLUSIVE: EC brings in feature to check misuse of identity to seek voter list deletions

Political Pulse3 hr ago

The Election Commission has launched a new 'e-sign' feature on its portal and app to prevent fraud. This comes after allegations of misuse of online voter deletion forms in Karnataka. The feature requires voters to verify their identity using their Aadhaar-linked phone numbers, reducing the possibility of fraud.

View all shorts

Live Blog