F1:Hamilton puts heartbreak behind him

[TheGuru]

Lewis Hamilton admitted he was “gutted” after losing the opportunity to clinch the world championship in China when he slid off the road on worn tyres.

But the British rookie vowed to put the bitter disappointment behind him and focus on what he needs to do to secure the title in Brazil in a fortnight’s time.

Hamilton dominated the wet opening stages in Shanghai, but stayed out too long on an increasingly worn set of intermediate tyres and lost the lead to Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari on lap 29.

By the time he finally gave up the unequal struggle two laps later, his rear tyres were worn almost down to the canvas and he lost control of the car on the left-hand bend in the pit entry, sliding into the gravel and out of the race.

“We were having a great race,” an emotional Hamilton told ITV Sport’s Louise Goodman.

“We didn’t know whether it was going to rain or not and the tyres that I was on were just getting worse and worse.

“At the end I could almost see the canvas underneath.

“I was coming into the pits and it was like ice. I couldn’t do anything about it.

Hamilton said he could feel the tyres were in poor condition because the car was handling badly, but had been awaiting a call from the team to pit for new rubber.

“The thing is, my mirrors were completely dirty so I couldn’t see through them, so I couldn’t see my tyres but it just felt like they were completely finished,” he explained.

“And I was coming in that lap, so it could have worked out perfectly. I think we had the pace in the dry.

“It’s unfortunate, I’m sorry for the team, they did a fantastic job as always.”

To compound Hamilton’s misery after his first DNF of the year, Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso finished 1-2 to keep their title chances alive and set up an agonising three-way decider in Brazil.

Hamilton’s lead now stands at four points over team-mate Alonso and seven over Raikkonen.

That means that if the Spaniard wins at Interlagos, Lewis has to finish second to be crowned champion; in any other circumstances, third place will suffice.

Despite Sunday’s heartbreak, he took comfort from the fact that the odds still favour him and insists he will go to Brazil in a positive frame of mind.

“We’ve still got one more race to go, and don’t worry we can still do it,” he said.

“Obviously when I got out of the car I was just gutted, because I haven’t made a mistake all year and to do it on the way into the pits is not something I usually do.

“But you can’t go through life without making mistakes, and I’m over it.

“Now I’m looking on to Brazil and I know the team will be working hard to make sure the car’s quick enough there.
“We’ve still got the points in the bag.”