Speaking in Sepang today, following the opening free practice sessions, Lewis Hamilton, who was yesterday accused of "deliberately misleading" the race stewards in Melbourne, said he was not to blame, claiming that he himself had been misled.

In what is surely a major PR disaster for the 2008 World Champion and his team, a simple mistake has taken on a life of its own, with nobody appearing to come out of it well. While the Englishman and his team have been branded cheats and liars, even in the British media, Dave Ryan, a loyal servant of the Woking outfit since 1974, appears to have been made the fall guy.

Amidst a media (feeding) frenzy, this afternoon Hamilton attempted to put the record straight, however, in the eyes of many he may have simply dug the hole a little deeper.

"I'm not a liar or a dishonest person," he told reporters, going on to describe the events of the last 24-hours as "the worst thing I've experienced in my life".

"I could not tell you how sorry I am for the embarrassment," he continued. "I apologise to the race stewards for wasting their time and making them look silly.

"I just wanted to tell of what happened and I was misled," he added. "I want to say sorry to all my fans. I am not a liar or a dishonest person, I am a team player. If the team ask me to do something, I generally do it. But I felt awkward and uncomfortable.

"This is not an easy thing to do, to step back and realise I was in the wrong," he admitted. "But I was in the wrong, I was misled."

Referring to Ryan, Hamilton said: "Dave is a great guy and has worked for the team for many years and he is feeling it just as much as the whole team."

A sad day for Lewis, for McLaren, for Dave Ryan and F1.