Retired long-time McLaren employee Jo Ramirez has admitted that, if he still held his post as team coordinator, he would be worried about Lewis Hamilton’s recent form.
Despite winning at Melbourne, Hamilton – last year’s championship runner-up as a rookie – was outpaced by his teammate Heikki Kovalainen at Sepang, before his error-strewn run to thirteenth place in Bahrain three weeks ago.
Ramirez, of Mexico, admits that he “couldn’t believe my eyes” as the 22-year-old fumbled his way through the most recent grand prix weekend.
“I do not understand how he made so many mistakes,” the 66-year-old told the Italian magazine Autosprint.
Ramirez recalls the winter pre-season test at Jerez, where Hamilton was “fully concentrated” and quick.
“If I was responsible for McLaren, I would have to be worried about the situation now,” he explained.
“Ron Dennis has already spoken with him about it. In the last five races, his (Hamilton’s) error-rate was simply too high,” Ramirez said.
He reveals that the original plan for Hamilton’s deployment as a McLaren driver was as a full-time test driver in 2007 and a grand prix debut this year.
Ramirez explained that the alternative 2007 pairing of two Spaniards – Fernando Alonso and Pedro de la Rosa – complicated the issue and moved Dennis to accelerate Hamilton’s debut.
“In the first fifteen races of 2007, the team’s trust in Lewis was more than confirmed,” Ramirez insists.
But he said that after his disastrous Bahrain outing, the pressure on Hamilton is now particularly high, as he prepares to tackle superior Ferraris in Spain this weekend.
“No-one should forget that he is only twenty grands prix old.”
