Lewis Hamilton wanted to be on a one-stop strategy at the recent Italian Grand Prix, the McLaren driver admitted on Wednesday, after racing from pole position to a certain third before crashing out of the race on the final lap. The Briton's two-stop strategy, one of only three drivers to opt for such a strategy, enabled him to secure his second pole of the season on the Saturday, but on the Sunday was unable to keep pace with the championship-leading Brawns who scored their fourth 1-2 finish of the season.

Speaking during McLaren's innovative Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Phone-in session, the reigning world champion said his race strategy is usually decided by the team's engineers and mathematicians, but that a one-stop in Monza might not have been the right call.

“We do generally discuss it [strategy] together, but in actual fact it is decided from the team,” Lewis told the media. “Sometimes I might not even be at the meeting, and I'm told before qualifying that I'm going to stop at lap 15, or whatever it is. We've got a great group of guys who are very, very intelligent, who understand all the statistics and so I have to rely on them.

“They might not always get it right but generally they've always done a great job,” he continued. “I don't think in Monza I was on the right strategy but it was how it was and we'll try and learn from it.”

Hamilton acknowledged however that the two-stop strategy enabled him to secure his 15th career pole position, as well as being able to push hard in clear air for over half the race. Nevertheless, he admitted that the dominance of Brawn undid their chances of victory.

“I wanted to be on a one-stop strategy but I was on a two-stop,” he admitted. “A two-stop enabled me to be on pole position, and I was then able to push out in the clear.”

“I think potentially things could have been different if the Brawns hadn't been so quick, then we would have been in a great position. But they were dominant that weekend, they were very quick.”