Hamilton vows to seal title despite China slip

LEWIS HAMILTON insisted he will have no problem putting his China heartbreak behind him as a turbulent Formula One season took another dramatic twist yesterday.

Boasting a 12-point lead over closest rival Fernando Alonso going into the race, Hamilton was well on course to become the first person ever to win the drivers’ world championship in his debut season as he led the Chinese Grand Prix and held a healthy advantage over his McLaren team-mate, who was labouring down in fourth place.

But perhaps inevitably in a season that has seen plenty of controversy both on and off the track, disaster struck for the 22-year-old as he pitted for a second time on lap 31 of the 56-lap race.

A drying track had worn Hamilton’s intermediate tyres to such an extent that he was struggling to keep his car on the circuit and Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen had already taken advantage by assuming the lead before Alonso started to loom large in the Brit’s mirrors having finally passed Felipe Massa.

And as he came in to make his second scheduled stop and change on to dry tyres, his McLaren slithered off the pit lane entrance and into a gravel trap, ending both his afternoon and his dreams of making history at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Raikkonen went on to take the chequered flag while Alonso took advantage of his team-mate’s misfortune to finish second, and the pair are now just seven and four points respectively behind the championship leader going into the final race of the season in Brazil.

And while admitting it was driver error that led to the first retirement of his career, Hamilton reiterated it is not something he will dwell on between now and Interlagos.

“I am over it now,” he said.

“There is still one race to go and I can still do it. I’ll now focus on Brazil, where I’ll do everything I can to bounce back.

It had looked like being the perfect afternoon for Hamilton as he made a clean getaway from pole position before opening up a comfortable lead over Raikkonen.

Although that advantage was reduced to just over four seconds after the first round of pit stops, the McLaren was still well in control of the race until Hamilton’s tyre trouble saw the pair go wheel-to-wheel for a brief period before the Finn overtook him on lap 29.

And Hamilton insisted it was a collective decision to leave him out on track despite his obvious difficulties.

“I made a strong start to the race and my first stop went well,” he added.

“I was talking to the team before entering the pit lane for my final stop. Although the tyres were in poor condition, we took a joint decision to get through the last rain shower before changing to dry tyres.

“I was trying to be careful and as a result was not really fighting aggressively with Kimi.

“It would have worked out perfectly but I made a mistake coming into the pitlane and that was it.”

Massa finished third to put two Ferraris on the podium, while Sebastian Vettel claimed a superb fourth in his Toro Rosso.