Post by blacktulip on Apr 11, 2009 8:01:05 GMT
Taken from ITV F1, as interviewed on Autosport
"I was distinctly uncomfortable about Lewis's demeanour on Sunday [in Australia], and on Thursday [in Malaysia] I would say he was just doing what he was told to do," Whiting told Autosport.
"On Sunday it was completely clear that he was telling lies.
"The fact that he came and apologised to me in Sepang sums it up pretty much.
"He came to me and wanted to talk to me privately, and just said he wanted to apologise for everything he'd done, and he wouldn't do it again, that sort of thing."
Whiting said there was no doubt that Hamilton had given the stewards a false impression of events behind the safety car when questioned in Melbourne.
"Listening to the two drivers, it was clear – from the evidence that we were given at the time – that Trulli had in fact passed Hamilton, and Hamilton had not let him past," he said.
"That was the story, if you'll forgive the word."
But Whiting said Hamilton's guilt became obvious when presented with additional evidence from radio transmissions and media interviews in the second stewards' hearing at Sepang.
"We got into a little bit more detail of what happened when Trulli passed Lewis," Whiting explained.
"Lewis did his best to fudge it, I would say, without responding completely and directly.
"I reminded him that I had asked him twice in Melbourne did you consciously let him past?
"And he'd said no, Trulli had just passed him.
I then said when the team asked you to let him past, you said 'I've already let him past.'
"I said to him if you had been surprised by that, surely you would have said, 'he's passed me,' instead of 'I've let him past.'
"Lewis didn't really have an answer for that.
"They were trying very hard to get off the important bit of the subject, and trying to divert the stewards' attention elsewhere."
"I was distinctly uncomfortable about Lewis's demeanour on Sunday [in Australia], and on Thursday [in Malaysia] I would say he was just doing what he was told to do," Whiting told Autosport.
"On Sunday it was completely clear that he was telling lies.
"The fact that he came and apologised to me in Sepang sums it up pretty much.
"He came to me and wanted to talk to me privately, and just said he wanted to apologise for everything he'd done, and he wouldn't do it again, that sort of thing."
Whiting said there was no doubt that Hamilton had given the stewards a false impression of events behind the safety car when questioned in Melbourne.
"Listening to the two drivers, it was clear – from the evidence that we were given at the time – that Trulli had in fact passed Hamilton, and Hamilton had not let him past," he said.
"That was the story, if you'll forgive the word."
But Whiting said Hamilton's guilt became obvious when presented with additional evidence from radio transmissions and media interviews in the second stewards' hearing at Sepang.
"We got into a little bit more detail of what happened when Trulli passed Lewis," Whiting explained.
"Lewis did his best to fudge it, I would say, without responding completely and directly.
"I reminded him that I had asked him twice in Melbourne did you consciously let him past?
"And he'd said no, Trulli had just passed him.
I then said when the team asked you to let him past, you said 'I've already let him past.'
"I said to him if you had been surprised by that, surely you would have said, 'he's passed me,' instead of 'I've let him past.'
"Lewis didn't really have an answer for that.
"They were trying very hard to get off the important bit of the subject, and trying to divert the stewards' attention elsewhere."
