McLaren unconcerned about Hamilton crash

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By Mark Glendenning Thursday, May 24th 2007, 13:56 GMT


McLaren have no concerns about Lewis Hamilton's prospects for the Monaco Grand Prix, despite the rookie losing the last half hour of second practice because of a shunt.

Hamilton miscued his braking into Ste Devote and punched into the barriers, causing significant damage to the front of his car during the second practice session.

The championship leader previously crashed a car during pre-season testing at Valencia in January, but this was his first mistake during a Grand Prix weekend.

"He came into Ste Devote, which has a very small braking area, locked the rears and ... Monaco is Monaco," a team spokesperson told autosport.com.

"But we're very happy with the cars, both were fast out of the box and everything is fine. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with Fernando (Alonso)'s car."

Alonso ended the session at the top of the timesheets with a lap of 1:15.940, while Hamilton managed to hold on to the third quickest time with his 1:16.296 in spite of his shunt.

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Hamilton owns up to practice error

By Jonathan Noble Thursday, May 24th 2007, 15:54 GMT


Lewis Hamilton has apologised to his team for the extra work he has caused them because of his practice crash in Monaco on Thursday.

The McLaren driver locked up the rear tyres under braking for Ste Devote and slid into the barriers - damaging his car and forcing him to sit out the second half of the session.

But rather than curse his misfortune after seeing teammate Fernando Alonso dominate both practice sessions, Hamilton has simply owned up to the error.

"I'm obviously sorry as there will be a bit of work for the guys," said the world championship leader. "Until then everything had been going smoothly, and we were able to set some competitive lap times.

"I had a very small braking error coming into Ste Devote, and the tyres hadn't built up enough grip so I made a tiny mistake. The back of the car slipped a little and that was it - there is just no room for error in Monaco."


Alonso was obviously delighted with his session-topping times in both practices.

"We made good progress and the car feels good," said the Spaniard. "Monaco is a unique circuit with the close barriers and also traffic - it's very easy to get a flying lap ruined, but that is the challenge for everybody.

"I think we are in good shape, and with some more fine tuning during Saturday morning practice we are definitely looking forward to a competitive weekend."


Despite the time Hamilton lost in second practice because of his crash, and in the latter stages of first practice after a starter motor problem, team boss Ron Dennis is hopeful of seeing both his drivers fight for pole position on Saturday.

"Both our cars look competitive, and Fernando in particular was able to complete a lot of running," he said.

"The problem with the starter motor in the first session and Lewis's off in the second practice cost him some time, but we have plenty of data to analyse to put both drivers in the best possible position to fight for pole position."

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Monaco Thursday quotes: McLaren

 Thursday, May 24th 2007, 15:58 GMT


Fernando Alonso - 1st: "As always free practice was focused on testing the different tyre compounds made available to us by Bridgestone as well as finding the right balance with the set-up. We made good progress and the car feels good.

"Monaco is a unique circuit with the close barriers and also traffic - it's very easy to get a flying lap ruined, but that is the challenge for everybody. I think we are in good shape, and with some more fine tuning during Saturday morning practice we are definitely looking forward to a competitive weekend."

Lewis Hamilton - 3rd: "Today was the first time I ever drove a Formula One car around Monaco, and it was awesome. I have obviously had experience of the circuit from Formula Three and GP2, but in a Formula One car it's very different. I found out how unforgiving the track can be when I went off in the second session causing some damage to the car.

"I'm obviously sorry as there will be a bit of work for the guys but until then everything had been going smoothly, and we were able to set some competitive laptimes. I had a very small braking error coming into Ste Devote, and the tyres hadn't built up enough grip so I made a tiny mistake, and the back of the car slipped a little and that was it - there is just no room for error in Monaco."

Ron Dennis: "As always the Monaco Grand Prix presents some unique challenges for both drivers and teams and today's practice was no exception. Both our cars look competitive, and Fernando in particular was able to complete a lot of running. The problem with the starter motor in the first session and Lewis's off in the second practice cost him some time, but we have plenty of data to analyse to put both drivers in the best possible position to fight for pole position."

Norbert Haug: "Overall a good first day for us with a little bad luck on Lewis's side who was caught out in the first corner on a fresh set of tyres which obviously had not built up enough grip at this stage - however before he was strong as was Fernando. On Saturday and Sunday our goal is to be as competitive as today."

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Dennis says no driver discord at McLaren

By Mark Glendenning and Jonathan Noble Thursday, May 24th 2007, 16:30 GMT


McLaren boss Ron Dennis has angrily denied his team are facing internal problems dealing with the rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and teammate Fernando Alonso.

"I am amused at how some magazines have tried to position the team as having some [internal] conflict," Dennis said at the Monaco Grand Prix.

"You can see from the body language and the way they compete when playing video games, you realise that yes, they're competitive, but not to the detriment of the relationship that they have with each other or the relationship with the team."

Two-time champion Alonso is currently behind his rookie teammate Hamilton following the first four races of the season, and there were suggestions the Spaniard was not happy with the situation.

Dennis also said he is 'annoyed' that people outside the team are readily offering their opinion on Hamilton's capabilities.

Only last week, former team boss Eddie Jordan raised question marks about whether Hamilton had the necessary arrogance and win at all costs approach needed to be a champion.

Speaking in Monaco on Thursday, Dennis said: "There seems to be a rash of so-called experts; some people who have never run a competitive Grand Prix team who suddenly profess to be knowledgeable about what is right for Lewis; what is and isn't his comparative strengths and weaknesses.

"I think they should just be quiet and concentrate on their own business, which I'm sure would be better for them. I don't want to be too aggressive to those people but they know who they are, and they're failures in many of the things they've done."

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Dennis cool on Hamilton shunt

By Mark Glendenning Thursday, May 24th 2007, 16:43 GMT


McLaren team principal Ron Dennis has said that youthful exuberance was the main cause of Lewis Hamilton's crash in today's second practice session.

Hamilton lost almost half of the morning's session when a bearer in the starter motor failed. A part of the bearing became jammed in the rear of the car, requiring the team to remove the floor to fix the problem, and costing Hamilton valuable running time.

"That sort of put him in the situation where he had not tried the option tyre this morning," Dennis said.

"I think it was in the back of his mind that he had two sets of options to try, and he just got a little bit enthusiastic, entered the corner a little bit quicker than on his first lap on that tyre, and had a bit of a moment."

The crash put Hamilton out of action for the final 30 minutes of the session, but Dennis said that after the start to the season that his young charge has enjoyed, a slight mis-step was forgivable.

"I'd rather not have a wrecked racing car, but under the circumstances we're pretty comfortable with his contribution," he added. "He's got a few brownie points still in hand."