Ron Dennis, the McLaren team boss, described Lewis Hamilton's retirement from the Chinese Grand Prix as 'just one of those things.'

The 22-year-old looked well on his way to becoming the first rookie to clinch the drivers' title as, after starting on pole today, he comfortably led Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari - with closest rival Fernando Alonso trailing some way down the track in fourth.

But intermittent rain had made strategy choice particularly difficult, as Hamilton found to his cost when the intermediate tyres he was running on began to wear rapidly on a drying track.

The loss of grip saw the Brit run wide at numerous corners as first Raikkonen passed him on lap 29 after a close duel, before team-mate Alonso rapidly erased an 18-second deficit - having just passed third-placed Felipe Massa.

A struggling Hamilton came in for what turned out to be a scheduled stop anyway on lap 31 but was caught out by a wet pit lane entrance, and his car ended up stuck in the gravel.

"I think Lewis drove an excellent race; this was about how wet the pit lane was, tyre condition - it's just one of those things," Dennis said.

"He was very keen to maintain the lead and he was so comfortable pulling out a gap on Kimi, although I suppose he gave the tyres just a little bit more of a hard time.

"I don't think we did anything dramatically wrong and I don't think Lewis did. But the circuit was much drier than the pit lane entrance, and that made the difference.

"Lewis has been very controlled, obviously disappointed, and he acknowledges his part in the whole thing."

Raikkonen went on to win the race, with Alonso claiming eight points for second, and the championship is now set for a thrilling three-car shoot-out in the last race of the season in Brazil.

While Hamilton admitted afterwards that he was at fault, McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh indicated they should have brought him in for new tyres when his lap times started to drop.

Dennis revealed the decision to leave Hamilton out on track was based on the unpredictable weather conditions.

"Everybody was just trying to get through that last rain period, which we knew was two or three laps," he said. "I'm disappointed obviously. We'd disregarded all the cars other than the Ferraris and ourselves. We were unconcerned with Kimi and happy to just let him past.

"The problem was rain, and his tyres were in the worst condition. We weren't at all fazed about Kimi; we didn't care about Kimi; we weren't racing Kimi; he was racing Fernando.

"Kimi winning and Lewis coming second was adequate - but it just didn't work out that way."