By IANS
London : Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has said Lewis Hamilton should thank the Italian team if he wins the Formula One title after his team, McLaren, was found guilty of possessing confidential Ferrari technical information.
McLaren were excluded from this year’s constructors’ championship and fined $100 million, but the drivers escaped punishment.
“I still think that in the spying affair it was a big mistake not to disqualify the McLaren drivers as well,” Di Montezemolo told Thursday’s edition of the Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.
“It means that if Hamilton wins the championship, he will also win it thanks to Ferrari because there is a lot of Ferrari in his car.”
F1 governing body FIA said “some degree of sporting advantage was obtained (by McLaren), though it may forever be impossible to quantify that advantage in concrete terms”.
McLaren, however, insist that no Ferrari information found its way to their car.
Meanwhile, Hamilton is in a relaxed mood ahead of this weekend’s penultimate Formula One Grand Prix of the season in China.
The rookie leads the world drivers’ championship by 12 points from team-mate and twice world champion Fernando Alonso with just 20 points still up for grabs.
And the 22-year-old said: “There has been a lot of talk over the last couple of days about the championship but I just push that to the back of my mind.
“Anything is still possible but I am confident and determined.”
Reigning F1 champion Alonso, who won in Shanghai in 2005, is determined not to give up his title without a fight.
“My retirement in Japan has not made it easy for me, but there are still 20 points to be won and I am going to fight hard for each one,” the Spaniard said.
“All I think about is winning at Shanghai and Interlagos. I like to race in Shanghai. It is a new wide circuit and has been designed to allow overtaking.”
Following this weekend’s race in Shanghai, Formula One decamps to Interlagos for the Brazilian Grand Prix Oct 21.