Whitmarsh’s suggestion that money may have played a contributory role will
particularly grate with Hamilton, who has strenuously denied that it made
any difference. “We made Lewis an offer, which I believe is more money than
any other driver at the moment is being paid,” Whitmarsh said. “That leads
us to suspect that our competitor and our partner Mercedes-Benz offered a
bit more money.”
Whitmarsh’s comments were published as Formula One prepares to head to Austin
next week for the first of back-to-back race weekends which will conclude
with the season finale in Brazil on Nov 25. And the McLaren team principal
said that whatever their differences Hamilton’s final race for the team
would be emotional for all concerned. “I have known him since he was 11 and
worked with him since his teens and I know we will both be very emotional
after Brazil,” Whitmarsh said. “We have had one or two emotional moments
since the decision was taken and I believe, but you must ask him, that we
have a very good relationship.”
Meanwhile, Silverstone has completed its refunding process for customers who
were forced to miss parts of the British Grand Prix weekend because of poor
weather. More than 10,000 ticket holders were reportedly refunded at a cost
of nearly £1 million to the venue.