McLAREN team boss Ron Dennis has refused to be downbeat about Lewis Hamilton's chances of sealing world title success after a nightmare race in Canada.
Hamilton lost his drivers' championship lead to BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica in Montreal on Sunday after he failed to see a pit line red light and crashed into Kimi Raikkonen, knocking them both out of the race.
Hamilton had been in peak form all we
ekend at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, taking pole position and leading the race comfortably before a safety car was deployed and all the main contenders decided to refuel at the first opportunity at the end of the 18th lap.
That led to the Hamilton error which cost him not only the race but also a ten-place drop down the grid for the next race, the French GP on 22 June, as punishment from the FIA race stewards.
The BMW Sauber one-two for Kubica and Nick Heidfeld also saw McLaren drop from second to third in the constructors' championship but Dennis took comfort from the pace Hamilton had got out of the MP4-23 car ahead of his demise.
"Obviously, for a team that exists to win, it was a very disappointing day," Dennis said. "The collision that eliminated Lewis was just one of those things. The plain fact is Lewis didn't realise that the cars in front of him were coming to a halt until too late.
"It's difficult for a driver to decide whether to focus on the lights or on the cars ahead in situations like that. But that's motor racing, we've go to take the positives, we were very quick all weekend and hopefully we'll continue that pace through the rest of the season."
Hamilton accepted the stewards' punishment, saying: "It's just unfortunate when stuff like this happens, but I have no argument with the stewards."
The full article contains 313 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
