[attach id=242688 size="medium"]Lewis Hamilton... ‘proving people wrong’.[/attach]
Lewis Hamilton has taken a swipe at critics, including former Formula One drivers, who had warned that his move to Mercedes was a mistake.
“It’s nice to prove people wrong,” the 2008 world champion was quoted as saying yesterday as he savoured his fifth-place finish at last weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
The 28-year-old Briton had qualified third on the grid.
“It has been everyone, particularly all the ex-drivers, a lot of them commenting and saying that it was the worst decision ever, saying: ‘he’s going to finish nowhere, they are going to be nowhere’.
“And then they contradicted themselves, going the other way... they don’t know what they are talking about,” Hamilton told British reporters.
Hamilton’s decision to leave McLaren, perennial championship contenders who gave him his F1 debut in 2007, for a Mercedes team who were largely off the pace last year was widely considered a gamble at the end of 2012.
However, Mercedes have looked far more competitive in testing and in practice while the new McLaren has had a troubled start with Britain’s Jenson Button and Mexican Sergio Perez ninth and 11th respectively on Sunday.
Button, the winner in Australia three times in the four years prior to Sunday’s race, said in Melbourne that McLaren had “fundamental things” to change.
“The way the car is at the moment, this package that is sat in the garage right now is not going to win a race,” said the 2009 champion, who is next in action in steamy Malaysia this weekend.
Meanwhile, McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh has vowed to deliver the goods for Button and Perez.
Whitmarsh admitted it was the inspirational attitude of Button and Perez over the course of the Australian Grand Prix weekend that raised the spirits of not just himself, but everyone in the team.
The decision to radically redevelop a car that won in the United States and Brazil at the end of last year rather than opt for a natural evolution into this season has proven costly.
Although frank in his assessment of his team’s failings in Melbourne, it clearly pained Whitmarsh to admit the gravity of the problems.
To that end, he was grateful to old-hand Button and young Perez for remaining so upbeat.
“On a weekend like we had you look for positives, and one of them was how great the drivers were,” said Whitmarsh.
“Their attitude was very, very good. Jenson we know and love, so we expect that from him. He is that sort of professional.
“For a young driver like Checo to arrive in this situation, and to cope with it so well and perform in such difficult circumstances and in such a positive way, is very encouraging.
“They’re working with the team, they are team players, and we are all in this together.”