• Australian Grand Prix

Hamilton makes peace with McLaren

Lewis Hamilton; 'The team has explained to me their reasoning behind the second pitstop, and I can understand what they were trying to do' © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• Australian Grand Prix

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• Drivers:
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• Lewis Hamilton

• Teams:
• McLaren

As the dust settles on an exciting weekend in Australia, Lewis Hamilton looked to mend fences with his McLaren team by admitting he "understood" the pit-stop strategy which left him fuming in the closing stages of the race.

Hamilton was challenging Robert Kubica for second when he was called in for a tyre change. When he returned he was back in fifth and was unable to overtake any of the leading four who had all opted to run with their old tyres. A livid Hamilton hit out at McLaren's tactics on the radio near the end of the grand prix and then again in the immediate aftermath.

"The team has explained to me their reasoning behind the second pitstop, and I can understand what they were trying to do in trying to cover both Mark and Nico for later in the race," he said on his website. "We are still learning about this year's tyres and the degradation, and perhaps we over-estimated the wear that the frontrunners were expecting to suffer. It's something you learn from, and we'll use that knowledge to help us improve throughout this season."

Hamilton also went out of his way to praise team-mate Jenson Button. "As soon as Jenson finished in the press conference, I went down to see him and I gave him a big hug. You can't take anything away from his drive in Australia - it was faultless, and he thoroughly deserved the victory. Every win is special: you always love to win, but if it can't be for me, then I want it to be my team-mate.

"It's good to see the team celebrating Jenson's win - victories are very important for our team because they not only bring everyone closer together, but they also help validate the work we're doing and the approach we're taking. After a difficult 2009 season and our regrouping over the winter, I think the win in Australia will make the whole team a lot stronger."

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