Lewis Hamilton hit out at his team after today's Australian Grand Prix, claiming that a bad strategic call had ruined his race.

In the final laps of the race, the English driver criticised the team's strategy over the team radio, describing the decision to call him in for a second stop as a "terrible idea".

After finishing sixth, despite one of the most memorable performances of his career, the McLaren laid into his team still further.

"Unfortunately due to the strategy I was put further back and then I got taken out by Mark Webber," he told reporters. "I am happy with the job that I did, I think I honestly drove my heart out and I think I deserved better than what I ended up with. But I'll keep fighting to the next race."

Asked about the strategy, which saw him stop twice - once on lap 8 and again on lap 34 - Hamilton said: "All I know is that the guys always do a fantastic job but the strategy was not right. Everyone else in front of me did one stop, for some reason I did two.

"I don't know who called me in, but we'll find out," he added.

Team boss Martin Whitmarsh defended the decision, saying: "With the information we had at the time, given where Lewis was, we thought that was the right call. In retrospect, with hindsight, if we look at how the race played out, if Lewis could have made those tyres last, if he could, then he could have finished at least second today and we could have had a one-two.

"It was disappointing," he continued, "I think it was a fantastic drive by Lewis. We as the team made the decision. I've got to be accountable for that. I'm disappointed with the outcome, but I'm not disappointed by the process. Lewis passionately expressed himself on the radio, and that's how Lewis is. He's passionate, he likes to win, he's hard on himself, he's hard on the team, and that's how Lewis Hamilton is. And that's how he ticks and that's how he functions."