Speculation regarding Hamilton’s future has been rife of late, with the 26-year-old linked repeatedly with rival team Red Bull. He added fuel to the fire after suggesting that “loyalty had its limits” a perceived acknowledgment that he would leave the team if McLaren could not deliver him a championship winning car.

Hamilton will remain focused on reeling in Sebastian Vettel after his victory at the Chinese Grand Prix two weeks ago, and will now look for back to back wins when the Turkish Grand Prix gets under way in just over a weeks time.

Those who watch formula 1 live will hope for a contest to match the race in Shanghai, which is being billed as one of the greatest races of modern times ah Hamilton searches to reduce Vettel’s championship lead even further.

Whitmarsh has now moved to quash the rumours that Hamilton could switch to the team he is enjoying a battle with this season, and insisted that Hamilton’s future was with the Woking-based outfit.

“Lewis has a long career ahead of him and I think he’s intelligent enough to realise that the environment he has here is good for him and plays to his strengths,” said the McLaren team boss told the Daily Mail.

“Lewis has made it clear to me he wants to stay in the team and I’ve made it clear to him I want him to stay.” He added.

Whitmarsh also went on to say that there was no rush to sign a new deal, stating that the trust felt between the two parties meant they could take their time.

“At some point, we need to get a contractual agreement that reflects that, of course.”

“But I don’t think – despite the media interest – that either of us thinks we have to get to a contract in three months or six months. I trust him and I think he trusts me.” He commented.

Live f1 fans became aware of the problem after BBC commentator Martin Brundle pointed out the loose fitting tyre as Alguersuari exited the pit lane, and his wheel came off later in his outlap, leaving the 21-year-old to nurse the car back to the pit-lane on three wheels.

Starting early on the grid, Alguersuari was bought in early in an attempt to feed him back out into clean air on a three stop strategy, but that was scuppered as his tyre bounced dangerously into the barriers.

“From quite early on I was struggling with grip from the rear tyres, so we decided to come in earlier than planned for the first stop to try and fight back for the ground lost at the start,” Alguersuari said of the incident.

“Then, immediately after leaving the pits, I felt the car was very unstable and then I lost a wheel nut and the wheel came off, so there was nothing I could do.”

“After my best qualifying position I was hoping for better even if we knew we would be using quite worn tyres after qualifying, so we had started on my worst set of tyres to try and have an edge later in the race, but it was not to be.” He added.

After being charged by the Chinese GP stewards for breaching sporting regulations by releasing an unsafe car, chief engineer Laurent Mekies admitted the team had yet to get to the bottom of the incident.

“We brought Jaime in fairly early to have him running a three stop strategy,” he said.

“But we had to retire the car soon after the pit stop as we lost a wheel. At the moment, we are examining the exact cause of this incident.”

Team-mate Sebastian Buemi enjoyed a more successful race, although the Swiss driver will not have been pleased to finish 14th having started the race in 9^th.

Enjoy the best F1 battle ever.

I guess the question now is can teams like Ferrari and McLaren close the gap in time for next season?

What really bugs me is that the ruling body never bothered to clarify the rules regarding what a driver is to do in this situation. It has been common practice to give up any position you gain by cutting a chicane and you avoid any penalty. I’ve seen Massa pass someone by cutting the chicane, give up the postion and no penalty to Ferrari so why when a McLaren does it do you get a 25 second penalty?

The real issue is what constitutes an advantage because the rules don’t explicitly state what that is. In any sport, if the players are not sure what the rules are then you are going to have chaos. If the rule is give up the place you gained ( as ferrari has done to avoid a penalty) then Lewis did the right thing and should not have been penalized. If the rule is give up the place and don’t pass until at least 1 more corner then so be it and state it in the rules.

I think it is clear that Lewis did what other drivers have done in the past to avoid a penalty but for some reason in this case it wasn’t enough.

I’ve never been one to jump on the Ferrari bias band wagon but it is clear to me that the rules are not being applied in the same way to all teams. If you are going to enforce a rule then you damn well better make sure you do it equally for ALL drivers and not just when it suits you.

I would have preferred if they had said the the appeal was not allowed, but also took the time to clarify what is the required action in this situation to avoid a penalty which they did not bother to do.

All I can say is if a Ferrari cuts a chicane and does the same thing Hamilton did I’d better see a drive through penalty for Ferrari or I will have lost all faith in F1 to follow it’s own rules.

I was watching the race, I saw Lewis shortcut the chicane in the rain slick conditions but I also saw him back off and give Kimi the place back again, thus gaining no advantage from his off track excursion and then the two excellent drivers continued to race.   The rules are clear that you cannot gain an advantage by such means and that if a driver does gain position he must immediately give up that gain.  In the race I was watching that is exactly what Lewis did and in a championship this close, especially after last years foolishness to take away that victory after some of the most fun to watch racing we’ve seen this year is just a stupid move on the part of the F1 officials.

The biggest complaint I hear about F1 is, it’s boring, there is no passing, nothing exciting happens.  Well, when it does and that results in some fantastic racing it’s a shame the officials have to taint the experience.

That’s just my opinion, I could be wrong and welcome your comments.

Tomorrow we will see how things shake out in the race and what the effect on the championship will be.

How will it affect the drivers and teams?  I’m really curious to see how things go.  I guess we’ll find out on the 28th.

So,  do you think the night race is opening a new exciting chapter in F1 or do you think it’s a waste of time gimmick?

Will Lewis shine again this season without Fernando Alonso on his team? Only time will tell, but it looks like things are off to a great start for McLaren this year. I guess we’ll just have to see how the race goes tomorrow.

BMW is looking very strong too, perhaps it will be at least a 3 way challenge this year.