It puts the team under pressure - Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton has admitted that the competitive relationship between him and Fernando Alonso has put increased pressure on the McLaren team that is already under a lot of stress due to the espionage case.

Hamitlon said: “When you have two very competitive people in a team, probably the two most competitive people around, and who both want to win, it puts the team under pressure. It’s just extremely hard for everyone to play fair and make it easy. That’s why sometimes it appears one driver is favoured over the other. That’s why sometimes I feel he is favoured and vice versa.”

Because of the problems we are having with the FIA and Ferrari, it’s just more pressure on the team. The comforting thing is we have all this stuff going on, even at the weekend, and yet we weren’t distracted from our job. I learned a lot from the weekend, about my team, how strong they are to deal with all the issues that are going on right now.

It’s daunting for all of us, but I don’t believe any other team could cope with it better. We thought after the first result (decision of the WMSC) everything would be clear and we could move on, but it’s gone way back into it. It’s a tough time for the whole team, but it’s not distracting us, which is the main thing.”