Without Ferrari secrets, McLaren outclassed

The theory that Lewis Hamilton is feeling the strain in year two is in worse shape than team-mate Heikki Kovalainen's car. And that is in pieces. Hamilton returned to the podium in some style at the Spanish Grand Prix, though without ever threatening Ferrari's omnipotence.

One notion that does have legs is that which claims the lack of pace in Hamilton's McLaren is directly linked to last season's 'Spygate' affair, when the team's focus was on politics, not the performance and development of their car for 2008.

Though McLaren insist they are still at the races in this Ferrari-dominated season, expert opinion cannot see a way back for Hamilton, who trails champion Kimi Raikkonen by nine points after four grands prix.

Sir Jackie Stewart is leading the chorus of doom. "Ferrari are in a different league. McLaren were so enormously disrupted by the antics in September, October and November that management and senior personnel were focusing on other things and not what they should have been focusing on," Stewart said.

"It was not their fault they had to divert their energies. That has been very harmful to them. They have a lot of catching up to do and when you are up against a team like Ferrari, with the resources they have, the infrastructure they've got, it's difficult to penetrate it very far. They dominated the whole weekend. There was nothing that Lewis could do. It's frustrating for him." The Telegraph

[Editor's Note: Let's put this in perspective here and now. Before they received stolen Ferrari secrets, McLaren were outclassed terribly by Ferrari most years. The year they received the Ferrari secrets they were on par with Ferrari. This year they don't have access to Ferrari's secrets and once again Ferrari is beating them royally. So to hear Stewart blame their failure on Spygate is hilarious. The fact of the matter is that even without Ross Brawn and Michael Schumacher Ferrari is better. Period end of story.]