Oct.9 (GMM) Italy's press scoffed at Lewis Hamilton after the British championship leader beached his chance of wrapping up the 2007 title last Sunday in a Shanghai gravel trap.

His McLaren chiefs accepted the blame for the pit entry slide by not changing his badly worn rain tyres, and La Gazzetta dello Sport observed: "Everything was ready for a celebration in the McLaren pits, but formula one does not forgive errors".

Tuttosport added: "Hamilton committed a beginner's blunder.

"The Briton was merely a shadow of the excellent driver of the past months".

The Tuscan newspaper Il Tirreno pointed out: "Because of Hamilton's hara-kiri, Ferrari may hope again".

German commentator and former grand prix racer Hans-Joachim Stuck put the blame squarely on Ron Dennis and his aides for not doing anything about the visibly appalling condition of Lewis' tyres.

"It was completely incomprehensible to me. They need to buy eyeglasses," he told Sport Bild.

Back in London, Hamilton seemed unfazed on Monday in discussion with England's Daily Mail, and vowed to now follow the example of F1's ice-cool Finn Kimi Raikkonen.

"He's like flat-lined, and I think my subconscious is pretty much like that," said the 22-year-old.

"I've been in these situations before many times, needing to close out championships, and I know how to deal with it."