Planet-F1

Dennis: Everyone makes mistakes

Monday 22nd September 2008

Ron Dennis has defended Lewis Hamilton after questions were raised about the McLaren driver's recent mistakes.

Hamilton came in for a great deal of criticism from the British media after he choose the incorrect tyres for his final run during qualifying for the Italian GP.

The decision left Hamilton well down the order in 15th place and raised some questions about his - at times - rash decisions.

Dennis, though, has defended his driver, insisting that he is improving with each race and reminding his detractors that this is only his second season in F1.

"No one - not Michael Schumacher, not Ayrton Senna, not Alain Prost - has ever gone through an entire season without a single error," the McLaren team boss told French newspaper Le Parisien.

"But Lewis's improvement is ongoing and incremental; just as he's better this year than he was last year, he is also better at the end of this year than he was at the beginning of this year.

"And I expect him to be better still next year.

"He's still only 23, remember, and no one has ever yet won a Formula 1 World Championship at such a young age - not Emerson Fittipaldi, not Michael Schumacher, not Fernando Alonso.

"I'm not saying Lewis will win the Championship this year for sure - maybe he will, maybe he won't - but if he does he'll become the youngest man ever to have done so."