Lew keeps cool

CALM ... Lewis Hamilton won't panic despite McLaren errors

LEWIS HAMILTON says he is staying ice-cool — despite seeing his McLaren team make some disastrous mistakes this season.

The Brit has been hit by an embarrassing amount of gaffs which have dented his chances of winning a second drivers’ title. 

Bungled pit stops have cost him vital time during races, while his hopes at the Spanish Grand Prix were scuppered when he incurred a massive grid penalty after the team misjudged his fuel levels. 

But the 27-year-old, who endured a difficult season in 2011, promised to attack this year with a new mental approach. 

And while last year he would have been blowing his top after the errors, he says he is keeping his cool. 

He said: “I am always calm with things like the qualifying penalty but I am constantly growing, so I would agree I took it better. 

“Even though I had issues, I have stayed focused and kept my head down and done the best job I could, despite things going on around me. 

“That’s all I can do and all I expect — to do my best.” 

Hamilton’s team boss Martin Whitmarsh has admitted the fuel cock-up in Barcelona was his fault. 

But he was delighted to see Hamilton hold his nerve and battle back from 24th to finish a credible eighth.

He said: “Lewis knew he had to drive from the get-go knowing he had to make progress, knowing he had to hustle past car but knowing he had to look after tyres. 

“That is extraordinarily difficult and challenging but he did an incredible job. 

“He left Spain with his head held high, while we left with heads bowed because we know we have a quick car.” 

Hamilton gets the chance to make up for his pain in Spain a week on Sunday when he will compete in the Monaco Grand Prix. 

The circuit is one which Hamilton likes — he is just praying that things go a little more smoothly for him. 

Hamilton added: “People only say you are as good as your next race so the guy who won here is the favourite. 

“But Monaco is a track I love. I love street circuits because it’s like go-karting and I have always gone well there. 

“It’s a good place for me but I need things to come together. When that will happen, I don’t know.”