Martin Whitmarsh is sure McLaren’s recent errors will not affect contract negotiations with Lewis Hamilton.

The British team’s latest mistake not only cost Lewis Hamilton pole in Spain, it put the 2008 world champion to the very back of the grid.

Asked if he worries that the now seemingly constant flow of team gaffes will damage McLaren’s efforts to re-sign Hamilton, Whitmarsh insisted: “No, I don’t.

“He has got to build the support of the team, he has got to feel comfortable doing it, he has got to want to drive and he is in good shape,” British newspapers quote the McLaren team principal as saying.

“I look forward to working with him for a long time to come.”

But Whitmarsh admitted that, given Hamilton’s tumultuous 2011 season, he was worried the British driver might have despaired last Saturday when the team’s refuelling mistake cost the 27-year-old pole.

“I was concerned,” he said, “because it is a pretty tough thing to happen to a driver.

“But I have to say he showed some greatness I had not seen before. By the end of our chat he was consoling me.

“The relationship between Lewis and the team is stronger and better and hopefully we will work together for a long time,” added Whitmarsh.

The penalty might be harsh, but the loss of Lewis Hamilton’s pole in Spain is just the latest calamitous mistake by McLaren.

That was the tone of the paddock’s reaction to the news late on Saturday that a McLaren gaffe saw the FIA send Hamilton from first to last on the Spanish grand prix grid.

The Sun newspaper called it a draconian “24-place grid penalty” imposed by the FIA after an “astonishing cock-up” by McLaren.

Hamilton was told on the radio to pull over after his pole lap due to a “technical problem”.

Sporting director Sam Michael argued ‘force majeure’, but the stewards ruled that it had been entirely McLaren’s fault that not enough fuel was put into Hamilton’s car to ensure a scrutineering fuel sample.

Writing in the Telegraph, Tom Cary said the severity of the disqualification “raised eyebrows”, but agreed that “McLaren’s mistake was horrendous”.

He said it has been “a season of errors” by the famous British team, who are yet to get Hamilton’s signature on a new contract beyond 2012.

“Hamilton must be seething,” read an article in the Daily Mail newspaper, while The Times laid out McLaren’s “catalogue of errors”.

27-year-old Hamilton’s “raw talent is being thwarted by mishap and cock-up,” said journalist Kevin Eason.

“McLaren are lovely people but how the hell do they get themselves in this position?” wrote the Mirror’s Byron Young on Twitter.

Even the non-English language media agreed.

“It was another great mistake by McLaren that could eventually cost Hamilton the championship,” wrote Livio Oricchio in O Estado de S.Paulo.

Italy’s La Stampa called McLaren’s fuel gaffe a case of “harakiri”.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport added: “It was error number 13 for McLaren since last year”.

While highly critical of McLaren’s own-goal, however, the feeling in the paddock is that the stewards’ penalty – although accepted by McLaren – was overly harsh.

“Back of the grid? Way, way too harsh”, said the Mirror’s Young on Twitter.

“Draconian penalty in my view,” agreed PA Sport’s Ian Parkes. “Dropping Q3 time would have sufficed.”

Sky commentator Martin Brundle added: “(I) feel they should have deleted that (Q3) laptime only which would have put him sixth”.

And excluding Hamilton from Q3 altogether would have put him 11th. Now, he will be “lucky to score a point”, Auto Motor und Sport predicted.

In the Independent, however, David Tremayne noted: “Welcome to the draconian world of F1.”

David Croft, the lead Sky commentator, said the FIA stewards had acted correctly.

“A good rule should be one that covers all eventualities with a penalty that acts as a deterrent which in this case is what happened.

“Too little fuel can’t be tolerated,” he added. “It seems harsh but had Lewis taken pole by one thousandth of a second, would it be harsh then?”

The Spanish fans – not Hamilton’s biggest supporters dating back to his spats with Fernando Alonso in 2007 – were happy.

Asked on the El Mundo website whether the penalty was fair, 76 per cent answered yes.

F1 aficionados should thank Lewis Hamilton for the thrilling five-race sprint to the 2010 world championship crown, according to Niki Lauda.

Had the 2008 world champion not crashed his McLaren on the first lap at Monza, he would probably now have a clear points advantage with just Singapore, Suzuka, Korea, Brazil and Abu Dhabi left to run.

Instead, the top five protagonists – also including Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel – are all divided by a margin achievable in little more than a single grand prix victory.

“We should all thank Lewis Hamilton for his stupid mistake at Monza,” triple world champion Lauda told Bild newspaper.

“Now we will have a great sprint for the title,” added the great Austrian.

Flavio Briatore, who was also at Monza at the weekend, also noted the British driver’s “huge error” of crashing into Felipe Massa’s Ferrari and subsequently driving into the gravel with broken suspension.

“We mustn’t forget how he lost the championship in 2007,” the Italian told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

And David Coulthard wrote in his Telegraph column: “Lewis’s collision with Felipe Massa was elementary.

“He will feel he has let the team down, let himself down and potentially cost himself the title. He may well have,” added the Scot.

Indeed, Hamilton admitted that McLaren as a team will feel “angry” after Sunday’s error but insisted the criticism won’t affect him.

“You kick yourself more than anyone can kick you,” he said. “I am better equipped now to deal with it than perhaps a few years ago.”

Sebastian Vettel has vowed to keep attacking in 2010, despite the wave of criticism about his rate of errors in recent races.

The 23-year-old German’s most recent gaffe was his crash into fellow championship challenger Jenson Button at Spa, earning McLaren’s rebuke that he has become F1′s “crash kid”.

But Vettel told German language Speedweek that he is not now going to drive more cautiously as a result.

“Racing is not a coffee break,” said the Red Bull driver.

“I go to the grid to win if it is possible.  But you have to attack, you can’t just wait for it to happen.”

Vettel admits his Spa-Francorchamps manoeuvre on Button went badly wrong, and phoned his British rival to apologise.

But he will be racing with an unchanged attitude this weekend at Monza.

“I always try to attack, so in that way nothing is going to change.  You always have your head switched on and everyone weighs up the risks.

“I know that both myself and my car are fast enough to win,” added the German.

Lucas di Grassi has survived an uncomfortable gaffe within the Virgin team.

After the Hockenheim race, the team’s press officer Tracy Novak reportedly presented both the Brazilian rookie and his teammate Timo Glock with proposed official quotes for the media release.

The normal practice in the team is for the drivers to make proposed changes in writing, before reporters receive the release by email.

Motorsport-total.com reveals that although it was probably a prank, di Grassi, 25, amended German Glock’s official comment.

The quote received by the media read: “It was a difficult start to the race as Lucas overtook me in a brilliant move”.

Glock said: “When I read it I was very surprised — I can guarantee I didn’t say it.”

The German report indicates that Virgin did not see the funny side either, particularly after di Grassi retired from the race due to hitting a kerb too hard.