LEWIS HAMILTON WANTS answers from McLaren after slow pit stops at the Bahrain Grand Prix cost him the Formula One drivers championship lead.
Hamilton scored just four points on Sunday after plummeting from second place at the start to eighth at the finish.
His first two pit stops took 9.9 seconds and 12.2 seconds as mechanics struggled with the left-rear wheel nut. The unnamed gunman, who has now been involved in three blunders in two races, was benched after the second slip-up.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel won the race after starting from pole position. The German now leads Hamilton in the championship by four points. Asked whether McLaren would investigate the problems, Hamilton was clear in his answer.
“There should be. We gave a lot of points away today, which is what championships are lost from. We have to try and make sure we pick it up from the next race because we can’t afford to lose points like we did today,” Hamilton said.
“I don’t know who (the mechanic) is but I will go and see the guy, try and lift him up. The four points is the only positive I can take away from today. My pace wasn’t great. I really struggled to look after my rear tyres through the whole day.
“We picked up some time at the end of the day and at the end of the stint I looked after my tyres and I got everything I could out of the car.”
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh confirmed the tardiness would be investigated.
“Lewis pulled off some sensational passing manoeuvres in his efforts to push his way through to the front, but in the end he was let down by two slow pit stops, both of which were caused by delays at the left-rear corner of his car,” Whitmarsh said.
“Jenson’s pit stops were trouble-free so we’ll have to investigate what the problem was with the left-rear corner of Lewis’s car.”
