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German driver Timo Glock has reacted with astonishment when confronted with suggestions he slowed down and gifted Briton Lewis Hamilton the drivers world title in the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The Toyota driver, who was in fifth place on the final lap of the 71-laps race, was unable to hold off Hamilton’s charge to pass him for that position as they went into the final corner of the contest.
If Hamilton had finished sixth, home hero Brazilian Felipe Massa would have been the champion but Glock, running on worn dry-weather tyres in heavy rain, lost the grip he needed just as Hamilton, on wet-weather tyres, pushed for glory.
He said: “It was a hard race and I tried my best to get some points for Toyota.
“Six laps from the end I asked about the tyre situation, and about the weather conditions, and I said every time ‘I’ll stay out, one more lap, one more lap’ and at the end I stayed out for the whole race
“That last lap just cost us the chance to be in the top five, and in the end (decided) the world championship. I think at the end I didn’t give the title to Lewis – I think they worked for that the whole year, and Felipe as well.
“They both did a really great job all year and in the end it was a dramatic finale.
“I think it’s exactly what the fans want to see – maybe the Brazilian fans are not on my side any more but I tried my best and drove my race, and in the end I can’t change it.”
Formula One tyres are made to have optimum operating temperatures, but when they drop below that they rapidly lose grip and this hits their lap times.
The teams have computer-generated maps showing them the exact location of all the cars on the circuit at all times, giving them instant calculations on what may happen next.
McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh said their data told them Hamilton would catch Glock and pass him on the final lap.
He said: “At the end, we could see the rain coming and the pressure was building for us all.
“We know how slippery and difficult it is in those conditions and we made, I think, all the right calls.
“But we had to believe in ourselves that we had made the right calls, that we shouldn’t have taken big risks defending against a charging Vettel, who had none of the pressure Lewis had.
“It was super disciplined to believe that in not fighting with and potentially losing it with Vettel that in the final lap we would catch Glock.
“But it’s one thing having that belief and that view. Once you get into that last lap you start to wonder if you’ve got it right.
“We were obviously telling Lewis throughout that what was happening so he knew he had to keep it together, not panic, not do anything dangerous with Vettel and just to do his job to catch Glock and win the world championship.
“As we went through that last lap, we could see Glock falling back and the predictions were we would catch him, but until we did. Well, we were nervous to say the least.”
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