Published: 3 April, 2009, 18:18
Edited: 3 April, 2009, 18:18
Lewis Hamilton has made an emotional apology for deceiving Formula One stewards, after McLaren suspended its long-standing sporting director Dave Ryan for masterminding the misleading statements at last weekend's race.
"I'm not a liar or a dishonest person," Lewis Hamilton said on Friday before adding that the affair had definitely been "the worst thing” he’d experienced in his life.
McLaren bosses blamed Ryan for the deception. The team’s head Martin Whitmarsh told BBC Sport, that Ryan had not been ‘entirely full and truthful with the answers he gave’ to the stewards and had left the team with "no alternative but to suspend him".
On Thursday, reigning champion Hamilton learned he'd been disqualified from the Australian Grand Prix after a review by FIA officials. The 24-year-old had little to smile about after the sport's governing body ruled that he and McLaren deliberately misled race stewards.
Hamilton worked his way up to third from 18th place, and was passed by Janno Trulli while the safety car was deployed. After that, FIA interviewed both crews and looked into radio transmissions of the race, which resulted in Trulli getting points for a third place finish, after initially reaching the checkered flag in 12th position.