London, Nov. 10 : McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh believes Lewis Hamilton is already regretting his move to Mercedes.

Whitmarsh said he did "not fully understand" the reasons behind Hamilton''s decision to join a less competitive team, and felt the Brit's decision was motivated by a desire to "flee the nest".

"I think he has on occasions [regretted it]," the BBC quoted Whitmarsh, as saying.

"If I were speculating there are a number of factors, and the prime one, I think, is that there comes a time when a man feels he has to flee the nest. I think it was a bit of that and a range of different emotions. He has been with us for so many years that I do not fully understand it," he added.

According to the report, he also believes that a bigger remuneration offered by Mercedes probably motivated Hamilton to join the team.

"We made Lewis an offer - an offer, which I believe is more money than any other driver at the moment is being paid," Whitmarsh said.

"That leads us to suspect that our competitor and our partner Mercedes-Benz offered a bit more money. I don''t know that, but I think for Lewis made his decision," he added. (ANI)