F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has thrown his weight behind Jean Todt’s bid to succeed Max Mosley as president of the FIA.

Former Ferrari team principal Todt is battling with 1981 world rally champion Ari Vatanen to take over at the helm of world motorsport’s governing body when Mosley stands down after 16 years in the role next month.

Frenchman Todt, 63, already enjoys widespread support from a host of influential FIA members, including the incumbent president, and is the favourite to triumph in the election on October 23.

The support of Ecclestone adds yet further gloss to the slick campaign put together by Todt, who presided over Ferrari’s most successful period in F1 as Michael Schumacher won five successive world championships between 2000 and 2004.

“I have known Jean for many years,” said Ecclestone. “He is a most reliable, gifted and trustworthy person.

“He is determined and dedicated to whatever goals he sets himself and I admire and respect him greatly for everything he has achieved.

“The FIA needs a president that is strong, capable and with experience at the highest levels of motor sport.

“Jean is by far the most knowledgeable and capable candidate for this vitally important role. I hope everybody will support his candidacy.”

Lewis Hamilton believes his first victory for nine months was just reward for his “completely knackered” team.

McLaren have burned the midnight oil these past few months in a bid to build a race-winning car again after spending the first half of the season towards the back of the grid, and it has paid dividends.

The rocket-red victory shirts, celebratory loud music and flowing champagne were all back in evidence inside the McLaren brand centre yesterday following Hamilton’s Hungarian Grand Prix triumph.

The success ended Hamilton’s five-race drought without a point, and 10 since the last time he took the chequered flag in China last October.

The world champion looked the part, and the relief was palpable as he said: “It’s been almost a year - such a long time that it felt surreal to win again.

“I couldn’t believe how well it all went. I love my car right now - the overall package is fantastic.

“It’s been a huge turnaround. At the start of the season, I said if anybody could do this, it would be us.

“You’ve seen ourselves and Ferrari stepping up our game, and if we’d had this car at the beginning of the season I reckon we’d have won more races.

“But we always said we were six months behind the top guys and, sure enough, six months later we’re back at the front.

“Things can now only get better for us. The updates we’ve introduced have made a huge difference and the car is a pleasure to drive.

“But we’ve still quite a few improvements to make to the car as there are areas we haven’t yet explored.”

The win, though, means McLaren can now enjoy their two-week break due to start next Monday, with the holiday enforced as part of new cost-saving initiatives amongst all the teams.

For one employee in particular, who McLaren recently highlighted had put in a 36-hour shift to aid the team’s cause, he is likely to be very happy.

“I know they’re all completely knackered,” added Hamilton, with the next race not until August 23 in Valencia.

“I hope they get a good break over the next couple of weeks so we can be ready to come back and get some more podiums.”

There was particular delight for Martin Whitmarsh, who has endured a tough few months since taking over as team principal.

The wretched car aside, Whitmarsh was forced to deal with the fall-out from the ‘lie-gate’ saga in Australia, as well as play a major role in the recent FIA-FOTA battle over the future of Formula One.

Whitmarsh certainly enjoyed standing on the podium yesterday at the Hungaroring and receiving his first constructors’ trophy as team boss.

“It was a fantastic feeling,” remarked Whitmarsh, who was doused in champagne on the podium by Hamilton.

“I’ve been on the podium before. I was there for Lewis’ first ever win, but to be up there again, it had to be a special one.

“I have to admit the second half of the race was nerve-racking because I, the team, Lewis, everyone, needed a victory.

“But no-one needed this win more than me, so it was great.”

With McLaren now clearly back on the pace, the belief is it will not be a one-off this season.

“I’m sure more than a few people were sniggering down their sleeves at the suggestion we could win in Hungary,” remarked Whitmarsh.

“But we believed it. We tried to be realistic and objective, and we proved we were, and it was very, very rewarding.

“This team has been at war on a few issues this year, but we have come through that and we now want to win some more races.”

Hamilton is due to attend the team’s factory in Woking tomorrow, which is certain to be a moment as special as when he returned as world champion last year.

“Lewis has been a fantastic asset, and he’ll be a better one,” enthused Whitmarsh.

“Lewis did a fantastic job (in Hungary) and he is a fantastic champion.

“He had already planned to come to the factory tomorrow, so for the whole team it will be a massive celebration on Tuesday.

“But once that is out of the way, then we’ll get on with things very quickly.”

Jenson Button is refusing to be suckered in by Mark Webber’s mind games ahead of this weekend’s German Grand Prix.

Earlier this week Webber suggested Button had the title wrapped up given the considerable cushion he holds over his rivals.

That was despite Red Bull Racing’s dominant one-two at the British Grand Prix three weeks ago when Vettel led home Australian Webber, with Button a lowly sixth.

Vettel’s victory ended Button’s run of four successive wins, yet heading into the German’s home grand prix on Sunday he still holds a commanding advantage.

Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello trails by 23 points, whilst Vettel is 25 points behind and Webber 28.5, leaving the latter to conclude it is all over bar the shouting.

With nine races remaining Button smiled ruefully when asked for his thoughts before stating: “You never know if it’s reality or someone trying to play mind games.

“He made some nice comments, but it’s not over, Jesus! We’ve only had half the season.

“I remember (Fernando) Alonso leading the championship by more points than me in ‘06 with Michael (Schumacher), and yet they went into the last race with pretty much the same points.

“So much can change, but I have to say I’d rather be me in a Brawn than Sebastian or Mark in a Red Bull.”

Although far from comfortable with his current position, Button is relishing the challenge the remainder of the season threatens to pose after dominating the first seven races, winning six of them.

“You are never comfortable, unless you have enough points that they can’t beat you in the championship,” assessed Button.

“So much can happen, and as soon as you have one issue everything else follows.

“At Silverstone I started sixth on the grid, yet was stuck behind Jarno (Trulli) and my race was finished.

“We just have to make sure we don’t make any mistakes in qualifying and in the race, and then we have to be as close to the Red Bulls as we possibly can.

“Obviously, if the Red Bulls beat us in every race they are going to win the championship easily, which means we have to fight them.

“We cannot sit back and relax, so it’s not comfortable, for sure, which is good because of the excitement and the adrenalin.

“After Silverstone the guys at the factory stepped it up a gear and the parts that were coming in three races’ time are now coming in two races, so no, you are never comfortable.”

Button was forced to settle for the third fastest time at the end of today’s two 90-minute practice sessions at a chilly Nurburgring, with temperatures a season low 13 degrees centigrade.

The major surprise was the sight of Lewis Hamilton at the top of the timesheets, with the world champion edging out Vettel in the closing stages of the afternoon period.

Hamilton’s lap of one minute 32.149secs came shortly after he had spun his McLaren loaded with upgrades for this race, notably to the aerodynamics.

The work has been rushed, which is why Hamilton finished 1.6secs ahead of team-mate Heikki Kovalainen because unfortunately for the Finn, his car has yet to be kitted out with the new parts.

“We’ve still a long way to go but, most importantly, these new upgrades are pushing us in the right direction,” remarked Hamilton.

“It’s a work in progress, but the guys back at the factory have done an incredible job to get these parts to the circuit.

“I’ve even heard of one guy working a 36-hour non-stop shift to build these parts, which is incredible.

“Hopefully we’ll now do our job at the track and try to keep everything moving forward.

“It’s still early days, and we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves, but I’m hopeful of being able to get into Q3 tomorrow and look at scoring a couple of points on Sunday afternoon.”

If Hamilton does make it into the top-10 shootout it would end a miserable run of failing to making it out of Q1 at the last three races.

Behind Webber in fourth, Toyota’s Jarno Trulli again faired well as he was fifth, and with the gremlins taken care of after a truncated morning run, Adrian Sutil was sixth in his Force India.

For the team it was an up-and-down day as Giancarlo Fisichella was also sixth in the morning, only to then crash out in the afternoon when he spun into a barrier, ripping off his nose cone.

There was also drama in the paddock when German police attempted to impound the team’s assets due to a contractual dispute just before first practice.

The situation was swiftly resolved by Force India officials, with the promise their weekend will continue without further disruption.

Lewis Hamilton is rooting for Jenson Button to fly the flag at this weekend’s British Grand Prix.

In an uncompetitive McLaren, Hamilton appreciates he has no chance of repeating his stunning triumph of last year when he trounced the opposition by 68 seconds at a wet, grey Silverstone.

The world champion knows he will be fortunate to even claim a point on Sunday as he has come to accept the car and all its faults.

Instead, and as far as Hamilton the patriot is concerned, the next best option is for Button to continue on his seemingly relentless march towards this season’s crown and claim another victory.

“Last year was clearly incredible for me. I don’t know how we won by a minute and eight seconds,” reflected Hamilton.

“Every time I went past the grandstands I could see out of the corner of my eye the fans waving flags and cheering, even though it was soaking wet, raining non-stop.

“It was the most fulfilling race of my whole life, and the amount of support was very special.

“As for this weekend, I’m just going to make sure I enjoy it and embrace the fans because they were so supportive.

“Unfortunately, this year I’ve just not got the car. I’ve had to adjust from last year because it’s a struggle just to get into the points.

“I’m still going to be gunning, pushing as hard as I can, all out, like I do every race, but I know I’ll be mid-field somewhere, which is to be expected,

“So from my perspective it will be great if Jenson wins. I’m egging him on, and I guess I should put some money on him.

“It will be a proud moment to have a fellow Brit win, and I’ll be able to understand exactly how he is feeling.

“His lifelong dream is to win the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and I’m sure it will be more special for him than his win at Monaco last month. I know it was for me.”

Hamilton concedes being unable to savour that winning feeling this year has made life hard, although bearable by the fact he wears the tag of world champion.

A philosophical Hamilton knows he is simply on a downward slope of a rollercoaster ride nearly all Formula One drivers endure at some stage in their careers.

“I’ve been racing since I was eight years old, and racing is really the biggest part of my life,” remarked Hamilton.

“So every day I’m preparing for these races and you turn up and you are not winning, it’s hard.

“When you arrive at a circuit, even though you don’t have a great car, you still believe you can win.

“You’re always convinced in your mind that until the chequered flag something could still happen, that 16 guys in front of you might crash out.

“So you always have to keep going until you see that flag, and then when you get to the end and it’s a little disappointing, you know you are not alone.

“I have a team of almost a thousand people behind me, who are all working as hard as each other.

“I know there will be ups and downs. Other drivers have had bad years, so now I’m looking forward to the next few good years.

“When you have a tough day, you feel it, but you know you will live to see another day and so you have to get up and fight.”

McLaren-Mercedes’ Norbert Haug has admitted that the team has all but lost the F1 Driver’s Championship this season.

Speaking to the press in a conference call on Tuesday, Haug discussed prospects for the upcoming season and took a realistic look at the champions’ performance so far this year.

“It would be bizarre to speak of defending our title. Why should we think about it when we are not competitive?”

McLaren won the 2008 Driver’s Championship thanks to Briton Lewis Hamilton, and were close challengers for the Constructor’s title as well, finally finishing second.

Contrastingly, this season they have been well off the pace, notching up a pitiful 13 points from the first six races, in a season completely dominated by Brawn GP (86 points).

Despite the fact that 11 races remain this season, Haug has written off the chances of his team to recapture last season’s glory.

However, he remained positive about McLaren’s chances next year, saying that he sees the team as race-winning contenders “when the catch-up process is completed.”

The motorsport executive also admitted that he hopes to see a satisfactory compromise to the budget-cap dispute that has rocked the sport.

“We can only talk about an agreement when everything has been settled”, he cautioned, but said he hoped to see the 10 teams from this year back on the 2010 roster when it is announced on June 12^th.

Haug also expressed his fears about the 6 potential new teams that have applied for an F1 license, sharing doubts that they would match up to the required standards.

Haug added that Mercedes, who also provide engines for Brawn and Force India, are ready in principle to help new teams, but not at all costs.

“Formula One is not a charity, this must be clear,” he said.

Casey Stoner won a thrilling Italian Grand Prix to bring to an end Valentino Rossi’s run of seven straight victories at Mugello.

The Ducati Marlboro rider also took the lead in the FIM MotoGP World Championship points standings after crossing the finish line ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Rossi.

The race started with a wet track and with pole position man Lorenzo having to change his machine after crashing on the out lap.

Lorenzo also made a mess of the start as his Yamaha’s rear tyre span on the grid and most of the field passed him.

The critical part of the race came as riders changed from wet tyres to slicks with Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) both leading before this point.

But after riders started changing to slick tyres - Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s James Toseland was the first to switch - it was Stoner who slowly began to take control despite having to adjust his slipping clutch during the race.

One of the hardest battles Stoner had was to deal with veteran Italian Loris Capirossi who looked on course for at least a podium finish during the latter part of the race despite his Rizla Suzuki being down on power to his rivals on the long main straight.

Capirossi eventually lost out to Dovizioso for fourth and Colin Edwards passed his team-mate Toseland on the final lap to claim sixth.

Eighth went to Randy De Puniet (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and there was a shock ninth for Niccolo Canepa on the Pramac Ducati.

The top 10 was rounded out by Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) who challenged for the lead earlier in the race when the circuit was still drying out.

The race ended early for Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) who was left clutching his already injured hip after crashing out.

Lewis Hamilton is desperately hoping expectation becomes reality and he is able to maintain McLaren’s streak in Monaco.

One of Hamilton’s four race wins last year en route to the Formula One world title came around the streets of the principality as the team continued their enviable record.

That was McLaren’s second in succession after Fernando Alonso’s triumph in 2007, their sixth in 11 years with engine partners Mercedes, and their 15th overall.

With Monte Carlo due to suit this year’s McLaren which enjoys low-speed corners, the Woking team cannot be written off on Sunday.

“Monaco is my favourite circuit,” enthused Hamilton.

“The sensation you get from racing up the hill at 175mph, trying to make as straight a line as possible between the barriers while just shaving them with the walls of the tyres is unbelievable - the best sensation you could ever have in a Formula One car.

“There’s an expectation Monaco will be another good circuit for our car because the combination of low-speed corners and absence of any really fast stuff should suit it.

“I really hope so because it would be fantastic to have a competitive car and be fighting at the front again.”

Team boss Martin Whitmarsh also feels a hat-trick of consecutive victories is not beyond the realms of possibility.

“Everybody at McLaren is rightfully proud of the team’s reputation around the streets of Monte Carlo,” said Whitmarsh.

“We have won the grand prix for the past two seasons and McLaren has triumphed here an unprecedented 15 times - more than any other Formula One team.

“As a result, we go into the race with a greater degree of optimism than we had going into Barcelona.

“Both Lewis and Heikki (Kovalainen) enjoy this circuit and we feel the car will be a more competitive proposition around the streets of the principality.”

Lewis Hamilton’s bid for back-to-back F1 world titles is very much alive after McLaren had “their wrist slapped”.

Following an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris, McLaren were handed a suspended three-race ban.

Many will perhaps view it as lenient as the team were charged with five counts of breaching the International Sporting Code relating to fraudulent conduct and acts prejudicial to the sport.

However, it comes as no surprise following the sweeping changes which have taken place within the team since Hamilton and Dave Ryan were caught lying to stewards at the Australian Grand Prix.

Along with mentioning the word ’sorry’ on a number of occasions, fundamentally that is what has spared McLaren from suffering the punishment meted out 18 months ago after the ’spy-gate’ saga.

In that instance, they were fined a sporting record £50million and thrown out of the constructors’ championship, but that was never on the cards today.

It leaves Hamilton, currently 22 points behind championship leader Jenson Button, again free to focus on his title bid throughout the remaining 13 races of the season.

Speaking after the hearing, FIA president Max Mosley insisted the WMSC’s decision was “entirely fair.”

He added: “They (McLaren) have demonstrated there is a complete culture change, that it’s all different to what it was.

“In those circumstances it looks better to put the whole thing behind us, so unless there is something similar in the future, that is the end of the matter.”

Asked whether Hamilton could again dream of retaining his crown, despite the team’s troubled start to the season on and off the track, Mosley added: “Yes, and it may not be a dream.

“Don’t underestimate the speed with which McLaren will get themselves sorted out. They are a very powerful organisation.”

The WMSC confirmed the suspension will be applied “if further facts emerge regarding the case, or if, in the next 12 months, there is a further breach by the team of article 151c of the International Sporting Code.”

Denying McLaren had got off lightly, Mosley added: “I don’t think so because in the end there were decisions taken by people who are no longer involved, and that being the case it would have been unfair to have gone on with the matter.

“They did suffer because they lost all their points from Australia, so I think we’re done and it’s fair.”

Hamilton was initially promoted from fourth to third after the race stewards in Melbourne handed Jarno Trulli a 25-second penalty for passing the Briton behind the safety car.

Hamilton and Ryan, since sacked as McLaren sporting director, insisted at the time no order was relayed from the team demanding he allow Trulli to pass.

However, evidence in the form of pit-to-car transmissions and an interview Hamilton gave immediately after the race contradicted their story, and resulted in the case being reopened.

Deciding they had been “deliberately misled”, the stewards at the Malaysian Grand Prix disqualified Hamilton and McLaren from the classification in Melbourne.

Ryan was soon suspended, whilst Hamilton apologised for his actions in an unprecedented manner as he was allowed to use the FIA press conference room in Sepang - where he also notably blamed Ryan.

But the most signficant step was taken by Ron Dennis who announced with immediate effect his decision to stand down as CEO of McLaren Racing, and who is to stand down as chairman of the McLaren Group from June 1.

In taking up the running of the automotive side of the company, Dennis insisted his motive had nothing to do with F1.

Many observers, though, felt his action was designed to appease the FIA - with whom he has often had a fractious relationship - and to save McLaren, a team he had built up since taking over in 1981.

Since then, Whitmarsh has acted to build bridges and foster a far more harmonious relationship with the FIA than has previously been the case.

“Martin Whitmarsh made a very good impression. He is absolutely straightforward and wants to work with us,” confirmed Mosley.

“We’re all trying to do the same thing, which is to make the championship successful and hope the best team wins.

“I think Martin fully understands that, and the World Council reacted accordingly.”

As Mosley added, if only such action, and that ’sorry’ word been used more often a couple of years ago then “it would have saved everybody, including McLaren, a lot of time, trouble and money.”

“They made things very difficult for themselves back then. This time I think they got the message, and they’ve done a very good job.”

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone described the proceedings as “good, fair, honest and straight.”

A typically direct Ecclestone then added: “I thought Martin was happy with that. He shouldn’t have done something wrong should he? So he got a slap.

“But it was good for everybody that decision. They had their wrist slapped. That was all they needed. They’ve had enough punishment.”

On his 51st birthday, Whitmarsh said: “We are aware we made serious mistakes in Australia and Malaysia, and I was therefore very glad to be able to apologise for those mistakes once again.

“I was also pleased to be able to assure the FIA World Motor Sport Council members that we had taken appropriate action with a view to ensuring that such mistakes do not occur again.”