McLaren: Hamilton's crash penalty hard but fair

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Lewis Hamilton's penalty for crashing into Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and ending his race at the Canadian Grand Prix is "hard but fair," McLaren CEO Martin Whitmarsh says.

Hamilton's rammed into the back of Raikkonen's Ferrari as the Finn and Robert Kubica, the race's eventual winner, were waiting at a red light after the safety car was forced into action on lap 17.

Race stewards have penalized Hamilton by pushing him to 10th place on the grid at the next race in France.

Whitmarsh said the pit lane was "unusually" congested at the time of Hamilton's crash.

"As a result, Lewis not only had to monitor the two cars ahead of him but also keep an eye on the red lights at the pit exit.

"We all saw what happened next -- and that's racing. You have to feel sorry for Kimi and Ferrari, who were the innocent victims on this occasion."

Whitmarsh said Hamilton's penalty for the French Grand Prix was "hard but fair."

"Hard in the sense that it clearly makes Lewis's task more difficult in Magny-Cours, but fair on the grounds that we have no argument with their contention that he did cause an avoidable accident.

"Sometimes severe consequences can be the results of split-second misjudgments. And, in this instance, we'll take the loss of a likely win and the 10-place grid penalty squarely on the chin."

Whitmarsh said Hamilton's penalty would clearly affect their approach in France, with the Briton likely to run a little bit longer in the first stint than would otherwise have been the case.

Raikkonen, however, is finding it hard to let the incident pass.

The Finn said Wednesday on his Web site that he "couldn't believe" he had been hit while waiting for the red light.

"I can't believe that he did not see the red light and, more than that, the two stationary cars there.

"For my part, I think Hamilton deserved his penalty. He loses 10 places for the next race in France and, at least, that's not going to make things any easier for him."

Raikkonen said his position in the race for the drivers' championship, he is now fourth, was obviously "not that strong anymore," but it was "not the end of the world."

"It was the same position last year and, like then, it's still a long season ahead of us."

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