Martin Whitmarsh feels Lewis Hamilton has a tendency to "try too hard sometimes," but can be forgiven as he strives to become Formula One world champion.
Hamilton was warned not to over-drive by his engineer Phil Prew during qualifying for Saturday's British Grand Prix after running wide on one of his hot laps.
Only after the 23-year-old McLaren ace had clinched a stunning win in the wet at Silverstone did he concede to doing a "terrible job" the previous day when he could only qualify fourth on the grid.
At that stage it appeared to be another mistake from Hamilton to compound those he made during the races in Canada and France and which had put him under an intense spotlight.
But he redeemed himself with his glorious triumph to shoot him back to the top of the drivers' standings on 48 points alongside Ferrari duo Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen.
"Lewis does try too hard sometimes," was McLaren F1 CEO Whitmarsh's assessment of the young Briton.
"He pushed very hard in the last sector in qualifying, probably overdriving it there.
"By his own standards it was a pretty poor qualifying session, but luckily he was still on the second row.
"He then came out in such a strong frame of mind, believing 'okay, it didn't go right in qualifying, but I've the ability in the race to win this thing'.
"He then gauged it pretty right in the race. It will go down as one of those races people will talk about for years.
"But for anyone who is striving to be the best in the world and be a world champion, you've got to push pretty hard.
"When you're pushing that hard, it would be remarkable if you always judged it absolutely right.
"It's like getting a first serve in every time. You don't tend to do that. If you are getting it in 90% of the time, you try and hit the ball harder."
Given McLaren's performance in testing at Silverstone the previous week, and during practice and qualifying when Heikki Kovalainen was dominant prior to Hamilton's win, it would suggest they will be the team to beat at the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim in 12 days' time.
In contrast, Ferrari's weekend was wretched as Massa wrecked his car in practice before sliding off five times during the race.
The team also made crucial errors throughout that compromised Raikkonen's grand prix, so they will be desperate to make amends.
Whitmarsh is expecting them to hit back hard, adding: "Ferrari are going to fight back, that's for sure, so nobody's writing them off - we're certainly not.
"We're going to Hockenheim to test (starting today), and like us they will be bolting bits on the car to make it better.
"They've also two very quick and committed drivers, so we are in for real tough competition."
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