Whiting: "Hamilton apologized for the lies"

As well as demanding a public apology in front of the cameras at Sepang, Charlie Whiting said Lewis Hamilton apologized to him personally. "He came to me and wanted to talk privately. He simply said that he wanted to apologize to me for everything he did and that this situation will never happen again," she told the Mirror.

Whiting admitted he had suspected Hamilton had lied in Australia when he and McLaren sporting director Dave Ryan insisted Jarno Trulli had overtaken Hamilton deliberately. A few days later the pair lied again in another meeting with the stewards, which led to Hamilton's race disqualification and McLaren's summons to the World Motor Sport Council.

"I was very disappointed with Lewis' behavior on Sunday (in Australia), and on Thursday (in Malaysia) I wanted to tell him that he was only doing what they asked him to do," Whiting said. “On Sunday you could clearly see that he was telling lies.”

Whiting's story is supported by the story published in the British newspaper News of the World, in which an "FIA source" declared that Hamilton and Ryan's strategy was to be "extremely vague and not very direct with their answers. Then there is "It was the interview where Hamilton admitted to having put Trulli through. At that point they were both uncomfortable, but continued to deny the truth," the "source" said.

Andre' Cotta