| At the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix, McLaren's | | | | default in the gearbox that selected neutral |
| Lewis Hamilton had the chance to become the | | | | for a period of time. It was not as a result |
| first rookie to win the drivers' | | | | of Lewis pressing an incorrect button on his |
| championship. A poor start and a gearbox | | | | steering wheel." |
| problem though left him just one point shy of | | | | |
| accomplishing the feat. Ferrari's Kimi | | | | Even team CEO Martin Whitmarsh confirmed that |
| Raikkonen showed poise under pressure and | | | | there is no way that Hamilton could have had |
| went on to become the world champion even as | | | | caused the transmission malfunction. "It was |
| he went into the race sitting on third place. | | | | a gearbox problem, and it went into |
| | | | forced-neutral and changing down seemed to |
| The controversy of the recently-concluded | | | | rectify it - it might be mechanical, but we |
| Formula One season though still continues | | | | doubt it," said Whitmarsh. The problem with |
| with reports that Hamilton caused the error | | | | Hamilton's MP4-22 is only one of the few |
| which saw him relegated to 16th place on lap | | | | instances that the car showed signs of |
| eight of the season finale. A Canadian | | | | unreliability. McLaren uses engines from |
| publication La Presse reported that the young | | | | Mercedes-Benz and other racing parts as |
| rookie inadvertently switched off his car on | | | | durable as Mercedes 260E radiators. |
| lap eight. Said newspaper claims that | | | | |
| Hamilton was quoted as saying: "My finger | | | | "If it was something mechanical, they usually |
| slipped on the steering wheel and I | | | | don't fix themselves. It could be electronics |
| accidentally pressed the button used for the | | | | software - but there's no evidence in the |
| starting sequence. The car went into neutral | | | | analysis to support that. Could be a sensor - |
| and I had to reinitialize the system, that | | | | but again, there's no evidence in the data |
| is, reload the gearbox management program." | | | | recordings," continued Whitmarsh. "So it |
| | | | would appear that the barrels that change |
| This report though is said to be erroneous as | | | | gear went out of control - and out of control |
| Autosport reported that a source close to | | | | of the driver - and that's probably |
| Hamilton denied that the rookie driver even | | | | hydraulic." |
| spoke to the Canadian newspaper. McLaren | | | | |
| also denied that Hamilton has caused his car | | | | "That could be either a very small Moog servo |
| to stall on that fateful race. Autosport | | | | control valves that were interfered with by a |
| reported that a McLaren spokesperson said: | | | | tiny piece of debris or they are sensitive to |
| "We can confirm that the temporary gear | | | | magnetic interference - something generated a |
| shifting problem Lewis suffered on lap eight | | | | magnetic field which caused the valve to |
| of the Brazilian Grand Prix was due to a | | | | misbehave," concluded Whitmarsh. |