Title hopes over, say McLaren duo

Lewis Hamilton and McLaren team-mate Jenson Button conceded that their championship chances were gone after a difficult weekend in South Korea ended in farce and anger yesterday.

Button was rammed out on the first lap and Hamilton limped home in 10th, gaining just a solitary point in a title race that looks now to be between Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso.

Their bad weekend also means the Britain-based outfit have fallen to third in the constructors’ championship behind Ferrari.

“I was just told by the team that we had a rear-suspension failure, but it was safe to drive so they kept me going,” said former world champion Hamilton, who also had some artificial turf trapped under his car for the last portion of the race.

“It was tricky to even keep 10th place,” added Hamilton, who will make a high-profile move to Mercedes next season.

Despite starting third on the grid the Briton was soon overtaken by Alonso, and he struggled for pace throughout.

“In terms of winning the world championship, logic suggests that that’s probably it for me,” Hamilton said. “Having said that, there are a lot of points still up for grabs, so I’ll keep pushing. Stranger things have happened, and I’ll never give up.”

Hamilton is fourth in the drivers’ standings on 153 points, while Button has 131.

Button only qualified 11th quickest on Saturday and his good start in the race was ruined when Kamui Kobayashi came dashing down the inside, smashing into Button and destroying his suspension.

“I no longer have a realistic chance to win the world championship, so I’ll be enjoying myself over the final four races,” Button said. “Scoring points for the team in the constructors’ championship will be the most important priority.”