Bernie Ecclestone sure Lewis Hamilton will bounce back

On the back of another difficult weekend for Hamilton in India, where he was hit with a three-place grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags and then crashed in the race with Massa, yet more questions have been asked about his mindset.

However, Ecclestone thinks that Hamilton just needs a change of luck to get himself back on top form.

"In life you go through ups and downs, and I think he is just going through a bit of a rough period generally in his life," he said.

"When life is easy you get lucky and everything goes well. When things start going wrong they start piling up and going more wrong.

"He will get out of it. I spoke to him here in India. He is great. He will be okay."

Ecclestone has also played down talk of a 'feud' between Hamilton and Massa, despite the pair having been involved in six controversial incidents this year.

"It is not intentional, is it?" he explained. "These things happen. It is just really strange that it always happens between those two."

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has suggested that Hamilton's difficulties at the moment may be as the result of the pressure he is feeling from being alongside a very strong Jenson Button.

"If you're honest, the first driver you want to beat is your team-mate," he said. "We don't hide from that and nor does Lewis or Jenson. They are there to beat each other and Jenson's been on a run.

"Lewis is the great exciting driver he is but he'll not like being beaten by anyone, least of all by Jenson. Even though outside the car they have a fantastic relationship.

"But Lewis will not like being beaten by his team-mate. I don't want him to enjoy being beaten by his team-mate. I want him to try and beat Jenson just as I want Jenson to beat Lewis."