MOTOR SPORT/Chinese Grand Prix:Lewis Hamilton's bid to become the first rookie driver to win the Formula One world championship was firmly back on track yesterday after he was cleared of any wrongdoing in the accident involving Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel at the Japanese Grand Prix.
But the 22-year-old has revealed he is becoming disillusioned and hinted he could walk away from the sport if distractions off the circuit continue to overshadow his achievements on it. He said the incidents away from the track were "a shame for the sport" and if they continue "it's probably not somewhere I really want to be".
The FIA confirmed yesterday the McLaren star was under investigation for erratic driving behind the safety car as new footage had come to light regarding the incident on lap 45 of the 67-lap race. The new footage was a video said to have been recorded by a fan in the grandstand at the Fuji Speedway and posted on YouTube. It appeared to show Hamilton veering off to the right of the track and braking excessively in the last part of the circuit, in turn causing Webber to slow down and Vettel to run into the back of the Australian's Red Bull.
It was brought to the attention of the stewards by Vettel's team Toro Rosso in an attempt to have the German's 10-place starting grid penalty for tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix thrown out. However, it led to closer scrutiny by the authorities of Hamilton's behaviour behind the safety car. If found guilty, Hamilton was likely to have been hit with the same penalty as Vettel but could also have had the 10 championship points he picked up after winning at Fuji annulled.
But after a meeting involving all three drivers and representatives from each team yesterday, it was decided no further action was to be taken against the Briton, while Vettel also had his penalty reduced.
Meanwhile, Ferrari boss Jean Todt has hit back at Nigel Stepney after the former head of development claimed the flow of information between the Italian team and rivals McLaren had not been one-way traffic.
But Todt dismissed the claims. "I would not give any credit to this gentleman, who I said before has lost his head. When a guy puts powder in the fuel tank of his team car, I don't think we should give credit to the letter he writes."
