Andrew Benson blog

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Hamilton glory cannot hide the hurt

Andrew Benson | 19:34 UK time, Sunday, 9 September 2012

Lewis Hamilton’s victory in the Italian Grand Prix was his second in three races and McLaren’s third in a row, confirming their position as the form team in Formula 1.

They have won nearly twice as many races as any other team this season – their five compare with the three of Ferrari and Red Bull. No-one else has won more than one.

Just as worryingly for their rivals, the last two victories – Hamilton’s on Sunday and Jenson Button’s in Belgium seven days previously – were utterly dominant.

The retirement of Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel with his second alternator failure in a race this season also helped Hamilton move into second place in the championship.
Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton (center) celebrates winning the Italian GP on the podium with Sergio Perez (left) and Fernando Alonso (right). Photo: Getty

The 27-year-old may be 37 points behind Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, but there are 175 still available in the remaining seven races.

Alonso is, by common consent, the stand-out driver of 2012, but Hamilton has also driven a superb season and has almost certainly been second best.

Had it not been for a number of operational problems early in the championship, he may well be leading the championship. Even as it is, he has every chance of making a fight of it to the end of the season.

For a man in such a position, after a strong weekend, Hamilton was in a subdued mood after the race, as indeed he was throughout the four days in Monza.

He insisted that the BBC Sport story in which Eddie Jordan said that Hamilton was on the verge of leaving McLaren and signing for Mercedes had not affected him, but it did not look that way.

Whatever was prompting him to keep his answers short and to the point in his news conferences and television interviews certainly did not affect his driving.

He was in excellent form throughout the three days, tussling with Alonso for the honour of being fastest man at Monza.

And once the Spaniard was put out of the reckoning for victory with a rear anti-roll bar problem that left him in 10th place on the grid, Hamilton always looked odds-on for victory.

His task was made easier when Ferrari’s Felipe Massa beat Button away from the grid and held on to second place, with the McLaren never really hustling as it might have been expected to do, until he made his pit stop on lap 19. By then, Hamilton had the race won.

There was no evidence Button would have been able to challenge his team-mate had he got away in second place.

Button did close a little a few laps after their pit stops, but it was clear Hamilton was measuring his pace, and he let Button get no closer than seven seconds before holding him there until the second McLaren retired with a fuel system problem.

It was a mature, controlled drive, just as were his victories in Canada and Hungary. Alonso, who rates him as his toughest rival, will take the threat from him in the championship very seriously.

All in all, it was a tense weekend at McLaren. The Hamilton/Mercedes story made it a difficult weekend for the team and the relationship between their two drivers is frosty, presumably following Hamilton’s decision to post a picture of confidential team telemetry on the social networking site Twitter on the morning of the Belgian Grand Prix.

Button said he was “surprised and disappointed” by his team-mate’s actions, for which read “seriously hacked off”.

“I didn’t concentrate on it too much,” Button said on his arrival at Monza. “I thought it was important to say how I felt. It’s very easy not to say anything; also if you say something you can clear it up quicker. That was the last race. We’ve moved on from that.”

Perhaps, but the body language between the two men was palpably cool throughout the weekend, and they were not troubling to hide it, even in public arenas such as the restaurant at their hotel.

One night, sitting at adjacent tables, they did not even look at or acknowledge each other, let alone exchange a word.

McLaren insiders were relaxed about the situation, though. They like their drivers to race and a bit of edge focuses their minds, one senior figure pointed out.

Hamilton admitted his victory would have been a lot harder had Alonso qualified on the front row, as he looked certain to do before his problem in qualifying.

As it was, Alonso was forced to salvage what he could from 10th on the grid and, typically, he made the most of the situation.

An aggressive and clinical first few laps go him into fifth place by lap seven, but there his progress halted against the back of Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull.

The world champion was robust in his defence, and Alonso was not able to pass before they made their pit stops together on lap 20.

Ferrari’s slick pit work, consistently among the best this season, almost got him out ahead of Vettel, but the Red Bull edged ahead, forcing Alonso to get past on the track.

When he went for the big move, around the outside of Curva Grande at 180mph on lap 26, Vettel unceremoniously barged him on to the grass, the Ferrari bucking scarily as Alonso wrestled for control.

Understandably, he was furious, although he kept his counsel after the race. It was a sure-fire penalty, in the context of a clarification on acceptable driving which was issued verbally to the drivers at the Spanish Grand Prix and then in written form in Canada.

The assumption was that Vettel was getting Alonso back for a similar situation, with roles reversed, in last year’s Italian Grand Prix. That one, in which Vettel passed Alonso with two wheels on the grass, has rankled with the German ever since.

He has brought it up at every opportunity, and this looked very much like revenge.

The difference was that, then, Alonso left Vettel just enough room, and Vettel took to the grass when he could – just – have stayed on the track. This time, Vettel left no room, and his behaviour was clearly unacceptable.

Vettel has the arrogance and self-belief that is required of all great drivers but there is also sometimes a sense of entitlement about him which is less than appealing.

He got this one wrong, and one hopes that when he watches a video of the incident, he will recognise that himself.

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Italian GP: Fernando Alonso says Vettel's move was 'dangerous'


Ferrari's Fernando Alonso said the move in which Sebastian Vettel forced him on to the grass at 180mph in the Italian Grand Prix was "dangerous".

The Red Bull driver was given a drive-through penalty as the move contravened guidelines introduced this season.

Alonso said: "It was dangerous for the nature of the circuit. It's 300km/h and we were jumping on gravel. Not nice."

Asked if the penalty was fair, Vettel said: "From my point of view, no, but it's not for me to judge."

Governing body the FIA issued a clarification on driving standards following controversial incidents at the Bahrain Grand Prix in which Alonso and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton both felt Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg had been over-aggressive in defence of his position.
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“It was dangerous for the nature of the circuit. It's 300km/h and we were jumping on gravel”

Fernando Alonso

The rule says: "Any driver defending his position on a straight and before any braking area may use the full width of the track during his first move provided no significant portion of the car attempting to pass is alongside his.

"Whilst defending in this way the driver may not leave the track without justifiable reason.

"For the avoidance of doubt, if any part of the front wing of the car attempting to pass is alongside the rear wheel of the car in front this will be deemed to be a 'significant portion'."

The incident at Monza on Sunday happened at the Curva Grande, which the drivers take flat out.

Alonso went to the outside to try to pass the Red Bull and Vettel moved over, not leaving him a car's width of space.

The Spaniard ended up with all four wheels on the grass but managed to control the Ferrari and get back onto the track.

He passed Vettel on the inside in the same place three laps later, before the German had been given his penalty.

Alonso said: "The race director makes the decision and they made one, but it didn't change anything because [Vettel] was forced to retire."

Asked whether there was enough respect between drivers, Alonso said: "I don't know. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It's difficult for sure. It is in the borderline, this one."

The incident was similar to one in which Vettel passed Alonso in the same place last year with two wheels on the grass.

Then, not only was the rule not in place, but Alonso left just enough room for Vettel to stay on the track.

Alonso said: "Last year there was not a penalty, this year there has been. I think there is a big difference for the people who understand this movement."

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said he felt the penalty was "harsh".

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Hamilton's tough decision.

Since BBC Sport chief analyst Eddie Jordan reported on this website last week that Lewis Hamilton was on the verge of switching to Mercedes from McLaren next year, Formula 1 has been awash with speculation about the 2008 world champion's future.

McLaren did their best at last weekend's Italian Grand Prix to dismiss the story - team boss Martin Whitmarsh even joked: "Any sentence that begins, 'Eddie Jordan understands' is immediately questionable, isn't it?"

But it was noticeable that not only did McLaren not deny the story was true, they said very little to suggest Hamilton was staying with them.

From Whitmarsh, it was: "Lewis and his management have made their position clear to us", "my understanding is we're talking to him" and "I'm pretty convinced we will have a very good, competitive driving line-up next year."

None of which translates as "Hamilton is staying".
From second left - Lewis Hamilton, Martin Whitmarsh, Jenson Button

Hamilton was triumphant at Monza, but how many more races will he win with McLaren? Photo: Getty

As for the doubts cast on the veracity of the story, the source is strong and credible, and the core information - that Hamilton has agreed terms on a contract with Mercedes for next year - is based in fact.

That does not necessarily mean Hamilton will move but it does mean he is thinking about it seriously. And you can make what you will of his downbeat behaviour throughout the Monza weekend - even after he won the race.

In the paddock, the general view was that a move would be a mistake - but it is a much more complicated decision than that.

Firstly, McLaren have undoubtedly been more competitive than Mercedes in the last three years. Between them, Hamilton and team-mate Jenson Button have won 16 races since the start of 2010; Mercedes only one, with Nico Rosberg in China this season.

Over an extended period, McLaren have a winning pedigree beyond that of any other team. Only Ferrari have won more grands prix, and they have been in F1 for 16 years longer.

Hamilton, who has been nurtured by the team since he was 13, says: "I want to win." On pure performance, there's only one choice, right?

In F1, things are rarely that simple.

Yes, McLaren usually have a good car, but until this year it had been a long time since they had unquestionably the best.

It was close with Ferrari in 2007-8, although hindsight would suggest now that the McLaren was probably not quite as good then. In which case, you probably have to go back to 2005 to find the last time McLaren had conclusively the fastest car in F1.

This is known to have irked Hamilton in 2010-11, and played some part in the cocktail of issues that led to his difficult season last year, when his frustration at the car's inability to compete for the title and problems with his family and his girlfriend led to what he admitted was his worst season in the sport.

That all changed this season. The McLaren is again setting the pace. But a series of operational problems in the opening races badly affected Hamilton, costing him 40 points. Add those points to his current total and he would be leading Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, not trailing him by a win and a fourth place.

Hamilton has done well to disguise his disappointment publicly, but it was around this time that his management started approaching McLaren's rivals about job opportunities.

On top of that, McLaren are entering an uncertain period. For the first time next year, they will have to pay for their Mercedes engines - that's in the region of eight million euros they cannot spend on the performance of the car unless they find it from other sources.

Tied in with this is the question of salary. McLaren have made it clear they cannot afford Hamilton at any price. The word is they have offered him a cut in money for next season, on the basis that they cannot afford anything more. This might be offset by other compromises, such as over PR appearances, flights and so on.

Already on about half of what Alonso earns at Ferrari, one can imagine how that has gone down with Hamilton - especially as McLaren's portfolio of sponsors makes it very difficult for a driver to do personal deals elsewhere to top up his earnings. That's because almost anywhere he looks there's a clash with a company that has links with McLaren.

Meanwhile, Mercedes are by definition a "works" team with factory engines, have the might of an automotive giant behind them. They can pay Hamilton a lot more than his current salary - believed to be about £13m - if they want to. And at Mercedes there is also a lot more freedom for a driver to do personal sponsorship deals.

The funding for Mercedes' F1 team comes entirely from external sponsors - and the budget is reputedly significantly less than enjoyed by Red Bull and Ferrari. But it is underwritten by the parent company so even if there is a sponsorship shortfall it doesn't affect the team.

Performance-wise, the team that is now Mercedes actually won the world title more recently than McLaren, when they were Brawn in 2009. Ironically, the man who won it was Button. His success - and what he interpreted as the team's ambivalence about him staying - led to him moving to McLaren.

Admittedly, Brawn's success in 2009 was tainted by the row over double-diffusers that clouded that season. Once everyone had them, the car was no longer as competitive as it had been.

Mercedes have certainly been under-performing since then, but that can at least partly be explained by the fact that Brawn, facing serious financial problems, slashed their staff by 40% in 2009. As Mercedes, they have been slowly building levels up again.

The pressure on the team to up their game is massive - hence the huge investment in terms of staffing and resources in the last 18 months or so.

And while they are a long way behind McLaren this season, they are on an upward trend, even if it is significantly slower than either the team or the Mercedes board would like.

Equally, few in F1 would disagree that Hamilton is one of the three best drivers in the world, alongside Alonso and Sebastian Vettel. Mercedes don't have any of them.

It's impossible to know how much faster the car would go in their hands than it has done so far in those of Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. Some might argue not at all. But, that's not how Hamilton, who raced and beat Rosberg in their formative years, will look at it.

Add all that up, and the decision doesn't seem so easy after all.

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Singapore GP: Ferrari's Fernando Alonso surprised by lack of pace
Chief F1 writer in Singapore Fernando Alonso has admitted his Ferrari's lack of pace at the Singapore Grand Prix has been a "bad surprise".

The championship leader predicted he would be in the battle for pole but qualified fifth on Saturday, 0.854 seconds behind Lewis Hamilton's pace-setting McLaren.

"We were not happy with the performance of the car this weekend," Alonso said.

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“Saturdays is our weak point of the weekend, we are never able to extract the maximum from the car over one lap”

Fernando Alonso

"This is a bad surprise but nothing we can do now other than score as many points as possible in the race."

The Spaniard, who is 37 points ahead of second-placed Hamilton in the championship, is the only man to win a race this season when he has not started from the front row.

But he said that although the Ferrari is normally more competitive in race trim, a win on Sunday was not on the cards and he was focusing on beating as many of his main title rivals as possible.

Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen is one point behind Hamilton and one ahead of Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel, whose team-mate Mark Webber is a further 12 points behind.

Alonso said: "To win the race you need a little bit more on pace than we have at the moment.

"We cannot win with the pace we have now, but we are fighting for the world championship. Two in front, two in behind [on the grid] - Kimi and Webber behind, Vettel and Hamilton in front. We'll see if we can finish in front of three of them at least."

Did you know?
Fernando Alonso has a strong record in Singapore, finishing on the podium in three of the four years the race has been held.

Alonso's pre-event hopes of battling for pole and victory were based on a series of upgrades to the car this weekend, but not all of them worked as hoped - the team abandoned a new rear wing design that was part of the package.

He told BBC Sport: "We more or less faced the same problems as last year on this circuit in this type of corners.

"So maybe it is the way of the characteristics of our design of car that in these particular corners, traction corners, we are not at the top so we need to improve on that.
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Ferrari not quick enough - Alonso
"Some of the parts we brought here worked and some did not, so there is a little penalty there but not [the gap] we are from pole position." Alonso looked competitive during the race-simulation runs completed by the teams in Friday practice, when he was quite close to Hamilton's pace, and he said he was optimistic that would carry into the race.

"On race pace [we] normally improve," he said, "and I guess here will be the same.

"Saturdays is our weak point of the weekend, we are never able to extract the maximum from the car over one lap.

"But in the race I expect a good pace and I expect a little bit less [tyre] degradation can put us in a fighting position. But podium I think can be [the] maximum target.
"To finish in front of some of the contenders will be our aim and waiting for a better weekend."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/19688211

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Jaime Alguersuari column: Fernando Alonso's consistency key
By Jaime Alguersuari Former F1 driver and BBC Radio 5 live analyst

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel closed in on Fernando Alonso's championship lead by winning in Singapore on Sunday - closing the gap to 29 points - but I don't think the Spaniard needs to be too worried about it.

Alonso is doing a good enough job to finish in the top three in every race, as he did in Singapore, and all he needs now is to maintain the consistency he and Ferrari have had all year.

At the beginning of the year, during pre-season testing, everyone was asking who was going to win the championship, and no-one knew because they were not even sure about the potential of their own cars.

But it was quite clear that we were heading into a season where everything was going to be so close, between team-mates and car performance, and the important part was going to be to maintain consistency and stay as close as you could to the top five positions in every race.
Fernando Alonso and Sebastien Vettel

Fernando Alonso, right, needs to stay on the podium to win the drivers' title

The one who would make least mistakes and maintained that consistency of finishing would be the one who won the championship, and that is the case with Alonso so far.

He has done great to score points so consistently, and he is still in a very strong position.

The Red Bull does not look like the most reliable car - they have had a number of failures, including the alternator problems on Vettel's car in Valencia and Monza - and the same goes for the McLaren.

But the Ferrari finishes all the races. It never breaks. Alonso's only retirement was caused by an accident at the start in Belgium for which he was completely blameless.

Then they have Alonso, who is driving incredibly consistently, and never making mistakes. This is the best package.

It doesn't have to be the best car or even perhaps the fastest driver. It just has to be the most consistent package between driver and car, and this is what Alonso and Ferrari are and it's what Red Bull and McLaren lack.

That's why I think Alonso, if he finishes the races in the top five from now on, will definitely take the championship.
A VICTORY LOST

Lewis Hamilton was in excellent form in Singapore and his gearbox failure cost him a certain victory.
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Lewis Hamilton retires from the Singapore GP

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton retires from lead

Hamilton was the man to beat all weekend. He was the favourite and he not only had the pace to win but also the best tyre wear.

I saw his McLaren's tyres on Friday afternoon, after the teams had done their race-simulation runs in second practice, and he looked in the best shape by far.

Not only was he the fastest both on the lower-fuel run and the high-fuel run, but he also had very good tyre degradation. In fact, I was thinking they would be the only team and driver out of the whole grid who would be able to do just two pit stops.

Hamilton was very confident in his car's set-up from the beginning. He had great traction out of the slow-speed corners, and I could see the balance of the car was almost perfect throughout the weekend, while his team-mate Jenson Button was struggling a little bit more with the rear end.

They were looking really good, and I still believe McLaren has the fastest package on the grid.

Red Bull looked good in Singapore - Vettel was the closest to Hamilton - but I suspect that was a bit of a one-off.

I don't believe they can have closed the gap to the McLaren that was obvious in the previous four races; it was down to the characteristics of the Singapore track suiting the Red Bull car.

The integration of the Red Bull's exhaust system, rear aerodynamics and engine control system is very well suited to that sort of slow track, with short, tight corners.

The Red Bull always runs with high downforce and short gearing, and they don't have great top speed, so Singapore is a perfect track for them because it is just cornering and slow speed - like Monaco and Valencia, where they were also very competitive.

I don't think Red Bull will be as competitive at the next two races in Japan and Korea as they were in Singapore.

I think they can be at the level of Fernando Alonso's Ferrari, more or less, but the McLarens are a step ahead.

In Japan, Hamilton will be the favourite for the win and for pole position, and then we will see what happens - there are still six races to go.
SCHUMACHER UNDER FIRE
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Michael Schumacher crashes into Jean-Eric Vergne

Schumacher crashes again in Singapore

Michael Schumacher was given a 10-place grid penalty for the Japanese Grand Prix after smashing into the back of Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne.

In my view, it was completely the right decision to punish him for that incident.

I'm sure Michael will be concerned about what happened and that he agrees he deserved the penalty.
SOME TIME AWAY FROM THE RACES

I have been really enjoying my commentary role at BBC Radio 5 live this year but I won't be going to the next three races.

It had been planned for some time. It's better for me to prepare for next year, to keep my training up, as I'm sure I will be back driving in F1.

I also have an important test with Pirelli in Paul Ricard, France, in two weeks' time, where we are going to be deciding on the specification of next year's wet tyres. Apart from that I will dedicate myself to training.

I will be back with the BBC for the final two races of the year in the USA and Brazil.
A BIT OF FUN

You might be interested in a little film I have been involved in, supporting my favourite football team Espanyol.

They are the second team of the city of Barcelona. They have a new strip this season, and some of the celebrities who support the team have been involved in a promotional film about it.

There is an athlete, a swimmer, a winter Olympian and myself. I thought it was a nice film and I posted a link to it on my Twitter account. You can also watch the film here.

You might wonder how I'm from Barcelona and ended up supporting the 'little' team, when Barcelona are much more successful.

I have big respect for Barcelona and all the players there. They are incredibly talented and it is probably the best football club in the world.

But my passion for Espanyol started because they were playing in the first football match I watched, with my dad. So they became my team.

I always felt very associated with them. They were always struggling for budget, fighting to succeed, to stay in the Primera Liga, and I just fell in love. That's how it is with football sometimes.

Jaime Alguersuari, BBC 5 live's F1 analyst, drove for Toro Rosso in F1 from 2009-11. He was talking to BBC Sport's Andrew Benson.

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Bernie Ecclestone says Grand Prix of America may not happen

The future of the Grand Prix of America is in doubt again, according to Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone.

"The organisers have not complied with the terms and conditions of the contract," said Ecclestone on Tuesday.

In April, Ecclestone first questioned whether the New York track would be ready for the race, which is due to take place in June 2013.

The Grand Prix has been included on the provisional race list for 2013 and the calendar will be finalised on Friday.

The race will take place on public roads along the Hudson River in New York.

In June, Ecclestone told BBC Sport the race would "definitely" not happen, before saying that it would if the track were ready in time.

He added: "We'll have to see - I need to go and have another look. What I've seen up to now, and what's been going on, I'm not quite as sure as they are.

"If they can get it completed and confirm to us it will be done for sure, they'll be on the calendar."

But the chief executive of the race, Leo Hindery, said there were no doubts about the Grand Prix taking place.

"I don't know where these rumours are coming from, but this race is going forward," he said.

Speaking to the Guardian on Tuesday, Ecclestone added: "We are pretty close to the final deadline. We have a world council meeting coming up.

"I think if somebody got behind them it could happen in 2013 because they have come a long way with the circuit."

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/...erm_s.html

Lewis Hamilton's move to Mercedes is the biggest development in the Formula 1 driver market for three years.

Ahead of the 2010 season, Fernando Alonso moved to Ferrari, world champion Jenson Button switched from world champions Brawn (soon to become Mercedes) to McLaren and Michael Schumacher came out of retirement to replace Button.

Now, the man who most consider to be the fastest driver in the world has taken a huge gamble by switching from McLaren, who have the best car this year and have won five races this season alone, to Mercedes, who have won one race in three years.

To make way for Hamilton, Mercedes have ditched the most successful racing driver of all time.

Schumacher's return at the wheel of a Mercedes 'Silver Arrow' was billed as a dream for all concerned, but with one podium finish in three years the German marque have abandoned the project.

Hamilton leaves a team that has won more races in the last 30 years than anyone else. Photo: Getty

That the announcement was made just five days after the latest in a series of collisions in which Schumacher rammed into the back of another driver after misjudging his closing speed simply rubs salt into the wound.

Hamilton will be replaced at McLaren by one of F1's most promising rising stars - Sauber's Mexican driver Sergio Perez, who has taken three excellent podium finishes this year.

That's quite a shake-up, and it raises any number of fascinating questions, the first and most obvious of which is why Hamilton would leave a team that has won more races in the last 30 years than anyone else - even Ferrari - for one that has won one in the last three.

The explanation for that lies both at his new and current teams.

Mercedes sold the drive to Hamilton on the basis that they were in the best position to deliver him long-term success. In this, there are echoes of Schumacher's move to Ferrari in 1996.

Back then, the Italian team were in the doldrums, having won just one race the previous year. But Schumacher fancied a project, and saw potential. It took time, but by 1997 he was competing for the title, and from 2000 he won five in a row.

The architect of that success was Ross Brawn, then Ferrari's technical director and now Mercedes' team boss. Brawn is one of the most respected figures in F1, and Hamilton is banking on him being able to transform Mercedes in the same way as he did Ferrari.

Undoubtedly, Brawn will have made a convincing case to Hamilton; he is a very persuasive and credible man. It is also worth pointing out that Mercedes - in their former guise of Brawn - have won the world title more recently than McLaren. Button succeeded Hamilton as world champion in 2009.

Mercedes believe that the new regulations for 2014, when both the cars and engines will be significantly changed, will play into their hands.

They are devoting a lot of resources towards that year, and are optimistic they will be in good shape - just as Brawn were, in fact, when the last big rule change happened for 2009.

And Mercedes have a technical team that, on paper, is immensely strong. In Bob Bell, Aldo Costa and Geoff Willis, they have three men who have been technical directors in their own right at other top teams all working under Brawn.

Part of this argument is predicated on the fact that new engine regulations always favour teams run or directly supported by engine manufacturers, on the basis that they are best placed to benefit from developments, and to integrate the car with the engine.

But this is where that argument falls down a little - McLaren may be a mere 'customer' of Mercedes for the first time next year, but they are still going to be using Mercedes engines in 2014, and on the basis of parity of performance.

The love affair with McLaren, who took him on as a 13-year-old karting prodigy, ended some time ago.

Since 2010, Hamilton has been complaining from time to time about the McLaren's lack of aerodynamic downforce compared to the best car of the time.

Through 2009-11, he grew increasingly frustrated at his team's apparent inability to challenge Red Bull. Hamilton is well aware of how good he is, and it hurt to watch Sebastian Vettel win two titles on the trot and not be able to challenge him.

That explains his ill-advised - and dangerously public - approach to Red Bull team boss Christian Horner at the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix.

This year, McLaren started the season with the fastest car for the first time since, arguably, 2005. But again they could not get out of their own way.

Pit-stop blunders affected Hamilton's races in Malaysia and China early in the season, and then a terrible mistake in not putting enough fuel in Hamilton's car in qualifying in Spain turned an almost certain win into a battle for minor points.

These errors badly affected his title charge and in early summer his management started approaching other teams.

His favoured choice was almost certainly Red Bull, but they weren't interested. They also approached Ferrari, where Alonso vetoed Hamilton. That left Mercedes.

It is ironic that his decision to move teams has been announced on the back of four races that McLaren have dominated.

Meanwhile, Hamilton's relationship with McLaren Group chairman Ron Dennis, the man who signed him up and who promoted him to the F1 team in 2007, has collapsed.

It was noticeable that after Hamilton's win in Italy earlier this month Dennis stood, arms-folded and stoney-faced, beneath the podium, not applauding once. Nor did Dennis don one of McLaren's 'rocket-red' victory T-shirts, or join in the champagne celebrations with the team once Hamilton had completed his media duties.

In Singapore last weekend, it seemed that McLaren still believed they had a chance of keeping Hamilton; at least that was the impression from talking to the team.

But did Dennis already know in Monza of Hamilton's decision to defect? Was Hamilton's sombre mood after that win a reflection of his wondering whether he had made the right decision?

Was Hamilton's ill-advised decision to post a picture of confidential McLaren telemetry on the social networking site Twitter on the morning of the Belgian Grand Prix, the weekend before Italy, the action of a man who had had enough and didn't care any more because he knew he was leaving?

When was the Mercedes deal actually finally signed?

Was it done before BBC Sport broke the story of it being imminent in the week leading up to the Italian race?

Or was it not inked, finally, until this week, on the basis that only now has the Mercedes board committed to new commercial terms with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone?

In which case, was the gearbox failure that cost Hamilton a certain victory in Singapore, and effectively extinguished his title hopes for good, the straw that broke the camel's back?

In short, was Hamilton's decision based on cold, hard logic, rooted primarily in performance, in making more money, or founded on emotion as much as calculation. Or was it a combination of all those factors?

All these questions will be answered in time. Whatever led to Hamilton's decision, it is fair to say that it is an enormous gamble, one on which the next phase of his career hangs.
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Japanese GP: Fernando Alonso's title bid concerns Ferrari

Ferrari are concerned that their failure to develop their car is affecting current World Championship leader Fernando Alonso's title bid.

Team boss Stefano Domenicali admitted on Friday that problems with the Ferrari wind tunnel meant that some of their planned updates had not worked.

"In the second part of the season, when trying to bring updates to the car, not all are working on track," he said.

"If you are not able to improve, it's more difficult to fight for the title."
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“If you are not able to improve, it's more difficult to fight for the title”

Stefano Domenicali

Ferrari have discovered correlation problems between the data from their wind tunnel - a crucial tool in honing the aerodynamics of a Formula 1 car - and that from the car on the track.

It was a problem that initially became apparent at the start of last season following a switch to using a larger scale model and which Ferrari thought they had solved.

But it has recurred this summer, and the latest example was the introduction of a new rear wing at the last race in Singapore that did not bring expected benefits.

Ferrari have been evaluating the new wing again on Friday's first practice day at this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.

Domenicali said: "You try to improve the situation and when you are talking about a tool that is so significant for the development of the car you need to make sure it is at the top level of its performance. It seems that is not the case any more.

"So it is the time to work and see how we can improve that.

"It's part of the continuous improvement we have to do with the team but I don't want to hear that as an excuse not to deliver what is necessary to deliver on the track.

"We need to keep pushing to ensure Fernando will have the best car up to the end of the season."

Alonso is 29 points ahead of Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel in the championship but has not won a race since the German Grand Prix in July, five races ago.

Since then he has been fifth in Hungary, retired after being hit at the start in Belgium and taken third places in Italy and Singapore.

Not once this season has the Ferrari been quick enough to qualify on pole position this season in dry weather.

Domenicali said: "We cannot rely only being third or fourth, we need to make sure we can win a race and then we see what is the situation with the others."

He added that said Ferrari would take their own wind tunnel off-stream for a period at an unspecified time in the future to analyse what was wrong with it.

In the meantime they will use a wind tunnel at Toyota Motorsport's base in Cologne, Germany, to develop their car.

"We are using other facilities and in the next couple of weeks we will define a programme to be more specific on that, to see what is best time to shut down and improve things that are not at the maximum level at the moment," he said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/19840452