Hamilton Considered Quitting F1 over "Lying" Scandal

04.05.09 - With the “hardest week of his life” behind him, it emerged on Sunday that Lewis Hamilton had been so upset by the scandal over the Australian Grand Prix that he had considered quitting Formula One.

Hamilton’s father and manager, Anthony Hamilton, had contacted Max Mosley, president of the FIA, last Friday to express his anger that his son had been led by his McLaren team into telling lies in the aftermath of the race. He told Mosley that the world champion was thinking of quitting not only the team but the sport.

While that threat may have receded in light of McLaren's decision to attach the full blame for the incident to their sporting director Dave Ryan, an employee of 35 years, it shows just how scarred Hamilton was by the controversy.

After finishing a respectable seventh in the rain-affected Malaysian Grand Prix, Hamilton eschewed most of his media commitments and left as quickly as possible. He did not disagree that it had been the hardest week of his life. "Yeah, you could say that," Hamilton said. "You all know why. All I did was give it my best shot today and the results were not terrible."

Hamilton's disquiet is not helped by the fact that McLaren's new car, the MP4-24, is well behind the pace of its rivals. He has little realistic chance of defending his world title this year, nor does he see things improving when F1 reconvenes in China next week.

"I couldn't follow anyone today as everyone in front of me had much better downforce," Hamilton said. "All I could do was try to keep the car on the track. I hope we do make some improvements [before China] but we've got a huge amount to cover. It will be tough."

Hamilton's importance to McLaren is paramount and team principal Martin Whitmarsh will be sweating over these latest revelations. Whitmarsh wore a haggard look all weekend and has not ruled out resigning over his role in the scandal. However, he said that his future chiefly lay in the hands of his company's shareholders.
Alongside him, Norbert Haug, vice-president of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, who own a 40 per cent stake in McLaren, looked uncomfortable. "I am in permanent contact to Stuttgart, I am reporting to Dr Zetsche directly and of course we will sit down next week," he said. "I have full trust in Martin, just to point that out, but the whole affair is not what we want."

Hamilton: I May Quit McLaren

3.26.09 - Daily Star - Brit Hamilton, F1’s youngest ever title winner, heads into Sunday’s Australian GP in Melbourne intent on reigning supreme in the sport for years to come. And he insists that could mean leaving the Woking-based team which has guided his career since he was 10 years old.

He has said more than once that he would be happy to spend the rest of his career with McLaren – and signed a new five-year deal just over 12 months ago. But, after winning the world title on the last corner of the final race last November, Hamilton has become a top target for McLaren’s pit-lane rivals. He said: “I haven’t had offers from other teams and I’m not talking with anyone. “But I would listen to an offer from another team if someone asked me. It would be a great compliment and it would be silly if I did not.”

Even the slightest of hints that Hamilton and dad Anthony, his manager, would listen to rival offers is certain to interest the likes of Ferrari. Hamilton will not be available under his present deal until 2013 – but he will still only be 28 and Ferrari would be more than happy to plan way ahead if they believed he could be recruited.

The world’s first black F1 driver has been under the McLaren wing since he first met and impressed McLaren chairman Ron Dennis as a kid. He was runner-up in to Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen on his debut season in 2007 and then took the title last year by a single point.

He is expected to earn at least £100m (approx $143 million U.S.) in the next two years in salary and sponsorships. Meanwhile Jenson Button is aiming to put the skids under Hamilton’s title defence on Sunday – if he’s allowed to. The new Brawn GP outfit, which took over the Honda team, has been sensationally fast in testing.

Bookies have slashed Button’s odds on becoming world champion from 66-1 to 4-1 joint second favourite. But rivals reckon a larger rear diffuser – a device that aids airflow at the back of Button’s car – is illegal. Seven teams are claiming that the device – which is also being used by the Toyota and Williams teams – is outside the rules and are are gearing themselves up for an official protest.

But unworried Button, 29, said: “None of the teams really know where their car is in performance terms until we hit the race track for the first time in competitive conditions. “So I’m really looking forward to Australia and the challenge of getting the best out of our new car over what looks to be a very exciting race weekend.”