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More praise for Hamilton

Monday 12th May 2008

Martin Whitmarsh has sung Lewis Hamilton's praises, saying the Brit was so good in Turkey he probably could have won even using a three-stop strategy.

Hamilton, starting third on the grid, was forced to adopt a three-stop strategy due to the unusual tyre wear he suffered lapping the Istanbul Otodrom.

It was a problem that some of the drivers experienced last season although this year after Bridgestone made changes to their tyres it was a problem only Hamilton suffered.

The McLaren driver was therefore forced into three-stopping, which cost him valuable time, however, sublime driving meant he still managed to beat Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen to second place.

"If you conduct a straightforward computer simulation of the Turkish GP," said McLaren CEO Whitmarsh, "you'll find that a thee-stop strategy carries a penalty of about five seconds compared with a two-stopper, although in reality it takes longer than that because of traffic and other race situations.

"Even if Lewis had started from pole position, I wouldn't have fancied his chances of winning given that he was making three stops. After seeing the way he performed, however, I'm not so sure. He might just have done it."

However, whether this grand prix was Hamilton's "best race ever", as the McLaren driver said, Whitmarsh isn't too sure. "I don't really want to draw comparisons, but it was his best race this year," he said.

"The odds were against him but he was just flat out. His 'in' and 'out' laps were great and the team did a superb job during the pit stops. He took the race to Ferrari throughout."

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