McLaren: pit problem cost Hamilton podium

Hamilton pitted when running in fifth place, but a problem with the right front tyre delayed him ten seconds, which relegated him down to 11th position.

The British driver went on to finish in fifth place, but Whitmarsh reckons he was set for a top three finish.

"It cost him two things: 10 seconds at the stop and then track position, he was stuck behind Webber so it did cost him a podium position, yes," Whitmarsh said.

Whitmarsh said the team were analysing the problem.

"It appears the wheel nut locking mechanism failed so that when the gunman went to get the wheel nut off it wouldn't come off because of the mechanism," explained Whitmarsh.

"In the end he did a fantastic job because he switched to a different gun and had to take the hubcab off with the spare gun and the second gun probably sheared the two locking pins which allowed him to get it off.

"It's early days and we haven' got the car bits back but it appears to be a problem within the axle and the locking mechanism. It hadn't happened before.

"Clearly, it's a different locking mechanism because of the hubcabs but it hadn't happened before.

Despite the problems, Hamilton is still leading the championship with 14 points, three ahead of race winner Kimi Raikkonen.