Both McLaren and Hamilton apologised profusely for their actions over the Malaysian weekend. An emotional Hamilton said he was told to lie by Ryan, while team principal Martin Whitmarsh declared he had been unaware of the true state of affairs until after the damning evidence came out. He laid the blame squarely at the door of Ryan, who has since been dismissed — after 34 years of service to the team.

Whether Hamilton opts to ride out the storm or leave McLaren — or even the sport — remains to be seen.

Despite Hamilton and his team's repeated apologies, a number of questions remain.

Why did they try to mislead the stewards in the first place? It appears that Ryan wanted to compensate Hamilton for making a wrong call that cost him and McLaren one point, but surely he — and the driver — should have known that the truth would come out?

If Hamilton really felt so "uncomfortable" as he claims to have been about having to confirm his team manager's lie, why did he not mention it once in the four days between the two hearings to another member of senior management or even to his closest confidante, his father Anthony?

How could not a single other member of senior management be unaware of the situation, and, if so, doesn't this smack of incompetent management at best?

The overriding impression is that McLaren and Hamilton would have been quite happy to live with the lies and came clean only once they were caught out.

After this and the spying scandal of 2007 it does appear that a culture of cheating is prevalent within the team, one of winning at all costs and to hell with the ethical implications — exactly what they and many others accused Ferrari of during the Schumacher era.

McLaren may well be able to weather the storm, but in Hamilton's case it is most likely not going to be the case.

Being a team player is one thing, but the line should be drawn when you’re told to jump off a cliff. Even if Hamilton did learn this lesson the hard way, the story of his life, like that of Schumacher, will forever be accompanied by the damning caveat of "liar".

What a shame.