McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has jumped to the defense of driver Lewis Hamilton amid criticism about the former World Champion's weaving in the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Hamilton weaved several times down the start-finish straight at Sepang as he tried to break the slipstream from a pursuing Vitaly Petrov, whom he had been battling with for several laps. Athough Hamilton was given no penalty for the move, with the stewards just giving him a warning for unsportsmanlike behavior, several rivals have said they are unhappy about what he did.
However, Whitmarsh insists that Hamilton did absolutely nothing wrong and that his driver would never race in a dangerous manner.
"The stewards looked at this and decided not to penalize Lewis," said Whitmarsh in China. "Lewis was seeking to break the tow, not prevent an overtaking move. As always Lewis drives and races passionately, but always seeks to be entirely safe."
The matter is likely to be brought up in Fridays drivers briefing in China, however, with Williams driver Rubens Barrichello expressing his own disappointment about what happened.