McLaren: Hamilton will bounce back

Just one race on from his lap one exit at the Italian Grand Prix, Hamilton retired from the Singapore event on Sunday following a clash with Mark Webber as they battled for third place.

The retirement has left Hamilton 20 points adrift of championship leader Webber with just four races remaining.

Hamilton's McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is confident, however, that the title setback will not dwell much on his drivers' mind - and he is sure he will be back to his best in Japan.

"He will be bitterly disappointed after this race, but that will be out of his mind when he gets to Suzuka," Whitmarsh told AUTOSPORT. "And if we give him a quick car he can win that race. That is what he will focus on."

Just as he had done after the Monza race, Whitmarsh spoke privately to Hamilton in his room after the race in Singapore on Sunday - and assured him that he should not be too hard on himself for what happened.

"I went to speak to Lewis," said Whitmarsh. "He is disappointed and he is a passionate individual. I told him that people will have cheap shots at you, but you have to look at the facts. You didn't take a risky overtaking move, you didn't make mistakes. You were unlucky and that is motor racing, and you have to focus now on the races ahead.

"He knows that, but it doesn't take away the disappointment from knowing he should have been on the podium and should have been leading the championship at this moment and he isn't. After two races like that, it is a bit bruising. But he is a tough competitor; he will bounce back and will be strong at Suzuka."

Whitmarsh admitted that if Hamilton was going to get back to race-winning form in Japan, then McLaren had to bring important updates to its cars.

"We have a fantastic championship," said Whitmarsh. "We have five drivers who are capable of winning races and winning this year's championship, and I am not trying to rate them.

"We have to look at our performance, we have got to make our car quicker and develop our package to push as hard as we can, eliminate mistakes and do the best job we can."