Lewis Hamilton has the full support of his McLaren-Mercedes team despite a costly rookie mistake at the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix.
“He has the full sport and he will continue to have it,” said Mercedes motorsport chief Norbert Haug.
However, Haug also said that the Briton Hamilton was rightly criticised for the incident at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The incident forced his retirement from the race he was leading at the time, and he was also docked 10 positions on the starting grid for the next race this weekend in France, which effectively makes victory there impossible.
The McLaren driver - who is level on 38 points with Ferrari’s Felipe Massa - trails surprise Championship leader Robert Kubica by four points ahead of Sunday’s French Grand Prix, with world champion Kimi Raikkonen a further three points adrift.
He said: “There is so much pressure and I can’t begin to explain how much of it I have on my shoulders.
Hamilton, however, believes the difficulty of the situation can bring out the best in him.
He insisted: “These are character-building days and the days that make you stronger. I didn’t win the last race but I get to come back here, work with the guys and push forward.”
“We’ve already looked at the best ways of optimising the strategy to help us move up the field, and I guess I’ll just have to pass some cars if I want to get into the points.”
He added: “Mentally, it (the penalty) is something you learn to overcome quickly, so it certainly won’t affect my preparations for the race.”
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