• Chinese Grand Prix

Hamilton brushes off weaving criticism

ESPNF1 Staff
April 17, 2010 « We don't have F-duct advantage - Hamilton | »
Lewis Hamilton has faced criticism from his peers for his racing conduct in Malaysia © Sutton Images
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Lewis Hamilton and his McLaren boss sounded defiant after the 25-year-old was chided by his fellow drivers on Friday.

In the wake of his weaving in front of Vitaly Petrov's Renault in Malaysia two weeks ago, some of Hamilton's rivals made clear their view that he should have received an actual penalty rather than a mere warning. The drivers confronted Hamilton during a meeting late on Friday, and are believed to have pushed FIA race director Charlie Whiting to impose drive-through penalties for similar driving infractions in the future.

But Hamilton told British newspapers that he did nothing wrong.

"My feeling is that if you are defending into a corner and you weave more than once, that is illegal, but I am not aware that trying to break the tow was illegal," he said.

He also hinted that he felt his opponents had fixated on the Petrov incident.

"Maybe they should raise Mark Webber's incident in Melbourne. I didn't raise that," said Hamilton, referring to when the Australian driver drove into the back of his McLaren.

McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh defended Hamilton, insisting that the 2008 world champion is "entirely safe" despite racing "passionately", but new GPDA chairman Nick Heidfeld insists that weaving on straights should not be condoned.

"I don't know if it was dangerous in this case, but it can be in some circumstances," said the German.

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