McLaren: No evidence Alonso did wrong.

Despite the disappointment of seeing erstwhile Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton go scoreless in Bahrain on Sunday, the McLaren team has attempted to play down suggestions that the Briton was deliberately targeted by former colleague Fernando Alonso.

The collision between the team's 2007 team-mates provided good fodder for pro-Hamilton journalists and commentators, who remained convinced that Alonso had either 'brake-tested' the Briton, or lifter off just enough to precipitate a clash that damaged the front of the McLaren, but the Woking squad's CEO, Martin Whitmarsh, believes that there could be a more simple explanation.

"It's an interesting situation for those of us on the pit wall, because you see an incident such as that and have to respond in terms of pulling him in, getting the car repaired, looking at fuel load options that might help him recover and so on," Whitmarsh explained.

"At the time, we didn't actually know how it all unfolded - people come up immediately after the race and ask 'was he brake-tested?' and you can't answer. It is assumed that you are being evasive but, in truth, you simply don't know. It was only when I went into the engineers' room and started looking at the details that I realised Lewis' upper front wing had disappeared about two seconds before the accident, so he suddenly lost downforce.

"We haven't analysed why that happened, but we suspect the structure had been weakened by previous contact. To be fair to Lewis, it could have broken of its own accord, but that has never happened before so contact is the most likely cause. There's certainly no evidence that Fernando did anything wrong. The impact damaged other elements of Lewis's car apart from the wing though, and he just had to cope as best he could."

Hamilton would not normally have been in position to run into the back of Alonso given the comparative strengths of the 2008 McLaren and Renault packages, but admitted to making a bad start after dropping from third to twelfth on the run to turn one.

"It was a procedural error," Whitmarsh confirmed, "His engine was on the incorrect setting and that led to the anti-stall procedure kicking in, so he was swamped by everyone else as he tried to get away. However, as a team, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes doesn't habitually blame its drivers in public. Is the procedure clear? Is it simple enough? We have to look at all the details."

Whitmarsh also confirmed that, despite seeing his position at the top of the points go the way of Kimi Raikkonen - with BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld slotting into second place - Hamilton remained upbeat as the F1 season heads back to Europe.

"I think he's disappointed, but he's very strong-minded," Whitmarsh said, "He had a reasonable qualifying run, but a practice accident meant Friday wasn't his greatest day, and nor was Sunday. He won't lose confidence though. He believes in himself and knows he can get the job done. He'll go away, rebuild and come back stronger in Spain."