McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has leapt to the defence of Lewis Hamilton following another controversial weekend.

Once again, the 2008 world champion finds himself embroiled in controversy, this time following an incident involving Felipe Massa, the Brazilian who was world champion for all of thirty seconds before being pipped by the McLaren star in only his second season.

Following a clash during Q3 on Saturday, which led Massa to refer to his English rival as "mindless", there was a further, more controversial, incident during yesterday's race. Attempting to pass the Ferrari driver, Hamilton clipped him, doing damage to his own front wing and puncturing the Brazilian's tyre.

Though both were able to battle their way back into the points, Massa was still clearly angry at race end, interrupting Hamilton during the post-race interviews to sarcastically congratulate the McLaren driver on his performance. "Good job, well done," the Brazilian mocked, adding a thumbs-up gesture for added effect.

Speaking to reporters later, Massa once again described his rival as mindless, accusing him of thinking he was "Superman".

Amidst fears that the dispute could continue and spill over into future races, not least Massa's home event at Interlagos, Whitmarsh jumped to his driver's defence.

"The truth is there are plenty of people who have spoken to me already who have a different view," he told reporters. "I think you have to take some risk in overtaking. And he is a driver who wants to overtake in a hurry.

"Now, after the event he'll regret that," he continued, "and wish he'd backed out of it and waited for another three corners or whatever. The fact is, it happened. It was right or wrong. After that he drove an immaculate race and he shouldn't have had to have the penalty or his front wing knocked off. He shouldn't have lost places at the start. In sport and life things go well and go badly for you, I think it went badly."

Whitmarsh was keen to play down the idea of a feud, insisting that there was nothing personal about the clashes.

"They have been friends, they've been enemies," said the Englishman. "You know what it's like amongst drivers.

"Lewis is having plenty of love from the team," he continued. "I have known him since he was 11 and I have seen him go through great moments of elation and of achievement and in areas of disappointment. Naturally there is a big affinity between him and myself and various other members in this team.

"Undeniably this year has not been a good one for Lewis," he admitted, "he's still got five races and he will regroup and try to win them. We'll have conversations within the team, we'll have conversations with Lewis. But those we will have in private.

"The fact is, he is an extraordinary racing driver and he will win again this year, of that I am sure, and he is going to be world champion again. I'm confident of that."

This weekend's incidents are the latest in a string this year. In Malaysia, Hamilton was handed a drive-through for more than one change of direction in order to defend his position. In Monaco he was handed two drive-throughs following clashes with Pastor Maldonado and Massa - the Englishman subsequently joking that the punishments were because of his skin colour. In Canada, following a clash with Mark Webber, Hamilton crashed out after trying a move on his own teammate, while in Belgium, following a qualifying incident involving Maldonado, he went out of the race after colliding with Kamui Kobayashi. The Briton subsequently admitting blame for the incident in a tweet.