Martin Whitmarsh took over from Ron Dennis as McLaren team principal on Sunday with the immediate task of helping Lewis Hamilton become the first British driver to retain the Formula One title.
“I’ve been trying for 20 years to win races and championships, but I have to say I feel an extra zing this time,” he told British Sunday newspaper reporters.
Former team chief executive Whitmarsh has been at McLaren since 1989, when they had Brazilian Ayrton Senna and Frenchman Alain Prost as their formidable lineup.
Since his arrival at the Woking factory, the Mercedes-powered team have won four constructors’ championships and six drivers’ titles including Hamilton’s first last year.
“There was a time when Formula One was perceived to be bankrolled by the tobacco industry,” Whitmarsh said, going on to point out that the sport has almost entirely given up cigarettes without going under. “Then the automotive and banking firms came in, and they are now having an unprecedented revolution and recession. But Formula One still has a broader commercial appeal.”
Like everyone involved in the sport, Whitmarsh would like to see a full grid for the 2009 season. But in the future he believes that an element of “sink or swim” would be good for Formula One’s culture.
“If the normal world returns, then having some failure or means of promotion would be good,” he said. “It seems to me that it would be unhealthy if in 10 years’ time we had the same 10 teams lining up on the grid. Right now though, while we want to beat everyone, we also want them to be around, and healthy enough to compete.”
“Ayrton Senna had pure intensity whereas Lewis is a fuller human being,”he said.
“That humanity is a great strength and will give him a fuller life - but with it comes some vulnerability.
“He’s sensitive, which is an ultra-positive trait from a human point of view.
“To be a multiple world champion you have to be consistent, not nasty. It’s just that sometimes life is less complicated if you are nasty.”
Whitmarsh admitted that he feels under personal pressure to ensure that Hamilton retains the world title.
“There is a little extra zing for me this year,” he added.
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