Hamilton rises above Bahrain nightmare

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Lewis Hamilton will not be losing any confidence over his poor return at the Bahrain Grand Prix, according to McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh.

Hamilton's golden glow lost some of its shine at the weekend. The Briton secured third on the grid but that was as good as it got.

He missed the start after failing to properly program his car's launch-control system and then, pushing to make up lost time, he touched the back of Fernando Alonso's Renault and was forced into the pits to replace his nose wing before finally finishing 13th.

Hamilton, who also crashed badly in the practice sessions, was forced to admit the weekend was a "disaster" and that he had "let the team down."

Ferrari rubbed salt into the wound by finishing first and second, pushing McLaren to third in the constructors' championship. BMW, with another fine performance, have a one-point lead over the prancing horse as the teams return to Europe.

However, Whitmarsh believes Hamilton will rebound at the next grand prix in Spain.

"I think he's disappointed, but he is very strong-minded. He had a reasonable qualifying run but a practice accident on Friday wasn't his greatest day, and nor was Sunday."

"He won't lose confidence, though. He believes in himself and knows he can get the job done. He'll go away, rebuild and come back stronger."

Whitmarsh said McLaren did not make a habit of blaming their drivers in public.

He believed Hamilton's team-mate, Heikki Kovalainen, would help push the Briton back to his best.

"He's [Kovalainen] is just getting stronger and stronger. The feeling within the team is that we still haven't seen the best of him. Lewis thinks as much too," Whitmarsh said.

"That's good because he knows he'll have to raise his game."

Whitmarsh was confident McLaren were about to make a "big step forward."

"We have slightly under performed for two races, but both championships are still very close. Three teams and six drivers are all within a handful of points of each other -- I don't think anybody is going to run away with either of the titles this year."

However, Felipe Massa, the winner in Bahrain, has raised doubts about McLaren's progress.

"It seems that at the moment McLaren and BMW are at the same level and we will have to watch both of them closely.

"Maybe McLaren is looking a little bit less consistent than last year, when they made life very difficult by scoring a lot of points in the first three races. This year that has not been the case, which is good for us."

Meanwhile, his team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, was delighted to be leading the drivers' championship after failing to finish the opening grand prix in Australia.

"When you look at the points after the first race in Melbourne, it's a great achievement... this year you really have to fight harder for every point you get." E-mail to a friend

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