Either way, there was little doubt how buoyed everyone was by the events of
Sunday. “It was an important win, a needed win,” McLaren team principal
Martin Whitmarsh said. “It is much easier going motor racing when you are
winning.”
Whitmarsh was full of praise for Hamilton, predicting that he would be strong
in Valencia’s high-speed corners next week and rejecting the notion that he
had simply profited from Ferrari and Red Bull’s decision to go with a
one-stop strategy.
“Lewis was in control throughout the race,” Whitmarsh said. “He has shown a
level of maturity in adversity this year when it would have been easy to get
frustrated with all sorts of different things.
“Going away leading the championship is great for him but when you analyse
what he did today that was a command performance. His confidence will take
another step from this. That is a big thing.”
Hamilton agreed that his confidence was back to where it used to be, making a
fairly pointed comment as regards the contract negotiations when he referred
to his schedule.
“The team have freed up a lot of time for Jenson and myself,” he said. “They
probably don’t understand how big a difference that makes, coming to the
races fresh and fit and in fighting form.”
And Hamilton reserved kind words for Button, whose dismal run continued in
Canada with a 16th place after he was lapped by his team-mate.
“Of course I have sympathy for him,” he said. “Jenson is incredibly
professional. He came up to see me in my room wearing the [rocket red
victory] T-shirt, as we all do when we win. Jenson is a world champion and
he is massively strong. He will bounce back. You can’t write him off for the
championship because one win puts you right back up there.”