'Twittergate' deepens as Hamilton reveals McLaren secrets
Sep.2 (GMM) The Lewis Hamilton 'Twittergate' affair deepened on Sunday.
On Saturday, 'Tweets' posted by the 2008 world champion and featuring the obscenity-acronym 'WTF' suggested Jenson Button had been given a better front wing in qualifying.
The Tweets were deleted.
Then, ahead of Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, the 'Twittergate' affair shifted into a higher gear when Hamilton posted via his social media account an image of a confidential McLaren telemetry sheet.
The sheet was apparently evidence of Button's qualifying advantage at Spa-Francorchamps, with hand-written remarks making clear Hamilton lost '6 tenths on the STRAIGHT' to the sister McLaren.
It also included sensitive team information, including the MP4-27's ride height.
"He was asked to take it down and he did it immediately," team boss Martin Whitmarsh is quoted by the BBC.
The affair comes amid Hamilton's reported tense negotiations with McLaren over his new contract for 2013.
"This is effectively a war," an unnamed paddock member said.
Whitmarsh, adding that Hamilton apologised, explained: "He misjudged the (telemetry) situation.
"He wasn't thinking clearly, obviously."
The 27-year-old British driver crashed at the first corner on Sunday, and did not appear for interviews during the race.
Afterwards, he said: "I really don't want to talk about the start. People can see what happened."
McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh says Lewis Hamilton "misjudged" a tweet he posted showing sensitive technical information and that the matter has been dealt with.
Away from the controversy Whitmarsh is delighted with Jenson Button's performance after a lights-to-flag win at Spa-Francorchamps for the 2009 world champion.
Despite Hamilton not finishing the race after a first-corner accident Whitmarsh feels the team are in great shape going into the final eight races of the season.
Share Or Save This Story
The season is still very long - Rosberg
Jules Bianchi's father speaks of family's continued hopes
Sauber under no illusions about constructors' position
Lewis Hamilton honours Roscoe with touching tribute one year after his death
Charles Leclerc: “McLaren and Red Bull did a step forward that we didn’t do”
Lewis Hamilton and Fred Vasseur recall GP2 title and 'most impressive race ever', 20 years on
"Everything that could go wrong went wrong" for Ferrari in Fuji WEC
Who slept worst last night: Lewis Hamilton
How the chase to catch Mercedes is unfolding
Remembering Gordon Johncock: The unvarnished legend with a heavy right foot
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Gordon Johncock dies at 90
Denny Hamlin slams "f****** cowards" who attacked Corey Heim and calls for NASCAR ban
McLaren Racing reportedly set for historic $1billion revenue milestone
Why Mercedes is still quicker than McLaren
Baku late-race chaos almost costs George Russell victory over Max Verstappen
How George Russell claimed his career-best pole margin in F1 Azerbaijan GP qualifying
How the chase to catch Mercedes is unfolding
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments