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LONDON - McLaren will give Lewis Hamilton time off ahead of next week's German F1 GP after the 2008 champion said he feared burnout under the burden of media and sponsorship commitments.
Team principal Martin Whitmarsh said: "Lewis has done too much coming into this (British) GP. We've managed to organise a bit of a break for him before Germany, which I know he wants. Then he has a big break after that in August as well.
"It's one of those things. He's a world superstar and lots of people want lots of his time but we're generally being criticised for protecting him too much, aren't we?"
NO STEWARDS' TROUBLE
Hamilton qualified only 10th on Saturday for his home GPp at Silverstone and there were plenty of long faces in the McLaren motorhome after a session that showed just how much ground the team had to make up on Red Bull and Ferrari.
Hamilton was far happier at Silverstone after making a storming start to the race on a wet track and finishing fourth after a thrilling battle to the line with Ferrari's Felipe Massa after being told by the team to save fuel.
He also managed to stay out of trouble with the stewards - something rare this season.
Whitmarsh said: "He drove a fantastic race. He drove without a mistake, with the right levels of passion and aggression and, above all, with the right level of discipline and control."
INDIA TRIP CANCELLED
The news he would get some time off before the Nurburgring was welcomed by Hamilton, who is 95 points behind Red Bull's World champion and runaway leader Sebastian Vettel and level with team mate Jenson Button in fourth with 10 races to go. He said:
"I was supposed to be working Monday and Tuesday and I basically said 'No way' because I've been in England like a week or whatever, so it has been quite busy here," he told Reuters after the race. "Then I was supposed to be flying to India for a day on Wednesday, in and out within a day. Fortunately, for some reason, it was cancelled.
"So, that's good. I get to be in one place for a good time to do some training, get my mind clear for the next race.
"I hope that will give the team time to clarify the rules; we lost a lot at the weekend and (Ferrari's) Fernando (Alonso) told me they didn't lose anything, and the Red Bulls clearly didn't lose anything either. I hope we can catch it back, I don't know how we will."
Team principal Martin Whitmarsh said: "Lewis has done too much coming into this (British) GP. We've managed to organise a bit of a break for him before Germany, which I know he wants. Then he has a big break after that in August as well.
"It's one of those things. He's a world superstar and lots of people want lots of his time but we're generally being criticised for protecting him too much, aren't we?"
NO STEWARDS' TROUBLE
Hamilton qualified only 10th on Saturday for his home GPp at Silverstone and there were plenty of long faces in the McLaren motorhome after a session that showed just how much ground the team had to make up on Red Bull and Ferrari.
Hamilton was far happier at Silverstone after making a storming start to the race on a wet track and finishing fourth after a thrilling battle to the line with Ferrari's Felipe Massa after being told by the team to save fuel.
He also managed to stay out of trouble with the stewards - something rare this season.
Whitmarsh said: "He drove a fantastic race. He drove without a mistake, with the right levels of passion and aggression and, above all, with the right level of discipline and control."
INDIA TRIP CANCELLED
The news he would get some time off before the Nurburgring was welcomed by Hamilton, who is 95 points behind Red Bull's World champion and runaway leader Sebastian Vettel and level with team mate Jenson Button in fourth with 10 races to go. He said:
"I was supposed to be working Monday and Tuesday and I basically said 'No way' because I've been in England like a week or whatever, so it has been quite busy here," he told Reuters after the race. "Then I was supposed to be flying to India for a day on Wednesday, in and out within a day. Fortunately, for some reason, it was cancelled.
"So, that's good. I get to be in one place for a good time to do some training, get my mind clear for the next race.
"I hope that will give the team time to clarify the rules; we lost a lot at the weekend and (Ferrari's) Fernando (Alonso) told me they didn't lose anything, and the Red Bulls clearly didn't lose anything either. I hope we can catch it back, I don't know how we will."
