McLaren writes off Hamilton - world championship defence is over

SKY SPORTS - Martin Whitmarsh has written off Lewis Hamilton's hopes of defending the world title after the McLaren driver suffered his third successive point-less race on Sunday.

McLaren entered the 2009 championship on a high with Hamilton the defending world champion, but their lofty expectations for the season soon came crashing down as they found themselves lagging in the midfield - or worse.

And, despite numerous upgrades to the MP4-24 as well as their use of KERS, the Woking outfit's form has gone backwards in recent weeks, resulting in yet another point-less grand prix in Turkey.