LONDON (AP) — A weekend of blunders at the British Grand Prix has left McLaren bosses red-faced, with their hopes of catching Red Bull in the Formula One championship all but gone.
The mishaps began on Saturday when Lewis Hamilton qualified in 10th after being given the wrong tires in qualifying and pessimistic team principal Martin Whitmarsh publicly acknowledged that their car is just not fast enough.
While Hamilton defied that gloomy forecast to weave his way through the field up to a podium position at one stage, a fuel shortage forced him to slow down and finish in fourth.
Jenson Button fared even worse, with a botched pit-stop leading to his retirement 12 laps from the end.
In perhaps the understatement of the weekend, Whitmarsh said Button and Hamilton were "in some ways a little bit handicapped in the race and that's a shame."
It left McLaren 110 points adrift of Red Bull in the constructors' championship and Hamilton fourth in the drivers' standings, 95 points behind leader Sebastian Vettel.
"We all make mistakes, and you always hope they won't happen," Button said. "But this is even more disappointing as it's in front of my home crowd."
The Briton was released from his pit stop by a mechanic who didn't notice that a wheelnut had not been fully secured to the front right wheel.
While leaving the pit lane, the wheel began to wobble and Button pulled off the track in despair — maintaining an unenviable record of having never finished on the podium at his home race.
The team principal tried to avoid making anyone the fall-guy for the bungling.
"Our pit crew have done a fantastic job all year, but on this occasion it was a case of human error in the heat of the moment," Whitmarsh said. "We mustn't be too hard on individuals. I know he's being very hard on himself right now. You can imagine, you can pinpoint it.
"Often when something goes wrong you can't, but this is an unfortunate one that can be pinpointed on an individual who is doing his best."
In the end, it could be Whitmarsh who pays the price for the mistakes in front of a record 122,000 Silverstone crowd.
"I am confident I will stay in my job," he said. "I answer to the board — not just (group chairman) Ron (Dennis) — and they seem happy with the job I am doing — certainly for now.
"But for sure it was not one of the best grand prix I have ever had. We don't want to let the fans down and we did."
Whitmarsh had already raised eyebrows on the eve of the race by commandeering the microphone at the start of a media briefing to give an eight-minute account of where the team has been going wrong this season.
"This team and these great drivers cannot be happy," he said before admitting that their car is "not quick enough."
It prompted Hamilton to be asked what motivation there was to stay with McLaren amid ongoing speculation that a move to championship leader Red Bull could be on the cards.
The 2008 world champion has a break-clause to release him from the final year of his contract. And while reaffirming his commitment to McLaren, he has adopted a tough stance in negotiations for a new deal.
Fearing burnout due to his sponsorship commitments, Hamilton will not sign up again unless they are cut down.
"You have to make changes," he said. "When I re-sign the contract with McLaren they are going to be shocked at how many days they are not going to be able to make me do. I will be doing a lot less work.
"I definitely won't be doing the whole period of time before the Silverstone grand prix, that's for sure. I will have at least five days to prepare (for the race) in the future."
The immediate future is the German Grand Prix in two weeks.
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