Frustrated Hamilton seeks route out of McLaren

A posse of photographers saw a female member of Red Bull’s catering staff, who knows Hamilton from her time at McLaren, talking on her mobile phone and then approach Horner and say: “I’ve got Lewis here. He wants to see you.”

“Lewis who?” asked Horner.

“Lewis Hamilton.”

“What the f*** does he want? Okay, tell him to come down.”

The news quickly spread but McLaren found out only when stories duly appeared on the internet, just another small illustration of a relationship that seems to be breaking down.

The cackhandedness of his approach to Horner, the series of collisions with other drivers on track and his constant public criticism of his team all point to Hamilton being far from a place of equilibrium.

Although apparently triggered by competitive frustration — Hamilton believes he is the fastest driver on the grid, an opinion shared by most of the F1 paddock, yet he is watching helplessly as Sebastian Vettel apparently cruises to a second consecutive world title — this crisis has been looming for some time.

One might trace it to him firing his racing-savvy father Anthony as his manager on the eve of last season. Since then, as far as racing decisions go, Hamilton is trying to be his own operator — and on the evidence of that clumsy Red Bull approach it’s not a task that suits him. “You cannot tell him,” says someone who has tried to offer Hamilton some guidance in the aftermath of the Red Bull debacle. “He knows everything. He just cuts the conversation short with, ‘You’re wrong’.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton’s behaviour is creating tensions within McLaren. The easy charm of McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh was being stretched thin in the aftermath of Valencia’s European Grand Prix last Sunday as he fielded questions about Hamilton again being publicly critical of the team and car after finishing a distant fourth, more than half a minute behind race winner Vettel. Asked about Hamilton’s statement that the car needed more downforce, the normally urbane Whitmarsh rounded on the questioner with: “You do ask the dumbest questions, don’t you? But carry on.”

Whitmarsh is trying his utmost to oversee development of the car while keeping the current pairing of Hamilton and Jenson Button together. Sitting between them at a press conference, he was amused by an off-microphone comment by Button. He started laughing then turned towards Hamilton, evidently trying to include him in the joke, as if paranoid of appearing to favour one over the other. Hamilton simply shrugged, unsmiling.

Button, meanwhile, has won many friends on the team with his easy-going demeanour towards management and engineers alike. The chemistry between the two drivers appears still to be good, even after they clashed in Canada when Hamilton attempted to overtake. But the more the team gravitate towards Button, the more isolated Hamilton seems to become.

In Canada a new Camp Hamilton was evident: his entourage — including at least two rap stars and a celebrity athlete — at times appeared to leave the team struggling to find space in which to work. Rapper Ice-T made a video from inside the McLaren garage that was posted on YouTube and will have irritated the senior management.

There are those who questioned whether it was coincidence that Hamilton then drove an uncharacteristically unfocused race with three collisions in five laps.

How much further Hamilton can try the patience of his so-far accommodating team before their relationship reaches the point of no return remains to be seen.