11/09/2010
NEWS STORY
Having qualified fifth for the Italian GP, Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he made the wrong choice when opting for a low downforce set-up.
For much of the weekend, the Englishman, who ran an entirely different set-up to his teammate, appeared to have the edge. However, when it really mattered it appeared that while Jenson Button had got it right in opting for high downforce, including the use of the F-duct, Hamilton had got it wrong.
"Maybe we took the wrong route," he told reporters after today's session. "I am a little bit disappointed. I think we should have been higher up. Jenson did a great job but I think we have the wrong wing on maybe.
"I gave it 100 percent," he continued, "but we just didn't have the downforce today. We were on the wrong downforce level, I think. We chose to go with the lighter downforce level which doesn't have the F-duct. The car was sliding everywhere so I struggled quite a lot. It was the wrong choice, a bit of a mistake, but we'll still push hard tomorrow."
Looking ahead to tomorrow's race, he admitted that he will probably seek advice from his teammate, the reigning world champion. "I'll do everything I can," he said. "I might take some tips off Jenson, he's pretty good at coming from where I am and getting up there..."
To which Button responded: "Cheers mate, don't know whether to take that as a compliment or not."
"Hopefully we have a similar situation where he sees me in his mirrors and thinks 'How the hell did he get there? and he's leading the race and we can have a good race from there," added Hamilton.