Martin Whitmarsh admits he faces an uncertain future in the wake of the Melbourne disqualification scandal.

Lewis Hamilton was passed by Jarno Trulli under a safety car during last week's Australian Grand Prix, but at a post-race hearing the Briton was elevated from fourth to third as the Toyota driver was handed a 25-second penalty.

The case was reopened after the FIA heard a radio transmission between Hamilton and his team which revealed he had been instructed to allow Trulli through, forcing the stewards to revise their original ruling, with Trulli reinstated in third and Hamilton disqualified.

The stewards determined that by not revealing the content of their radio communications, Hamilton and McLaren had "acted in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event by providing evidence deliberately misleading to the stewards".

McLaren suspended long-serving sporting director Dave Ryan over his role in the Melbourne debacle, a decision which pained Whitmarsh who admits his own position is now under scrutiny.

"It wouldn't be true to say that it (resignation) wasn't (on my mind) because at a time like this, you think about what you got involved with the sport for, and it wasn't for this sort of thing," said Whitmarsh, who replaced Ron Dennis as team principal over the winter.

"It hasn't been a great experience for me and it wasn't what I started out 20 years ago to experience.

"In the longer term, I can contemplate my future. It's not self-determining.

"It's for the shareholders of this team to take a view and it's ultimately up to them to decide what's best for this team.

"I'm not resigning this weekend. We've made commitments to look at how we arrived at this situation.

"We've got to learn from it and we've got to be better in future."

McLaren face the threat of additional sanctions as their actions contravene the International Sporting Code, and the FIA have it within their power to pursue the matter further.

Hamilton made an emotional public apology on Friday but Formula One legend Sir Stirling Moss fears the damage to his reputation may be irreparable.

"I am afraid that to some extent Lewis will be required to carry this with him for the rest of his life," Moss told the Mail on Sunday.

"Being remorseful is the best thing that Lewis could do, but he can't change what's happened.

"It's not as though he can claim he has been misquoted. I can't see that there can be any excuse for how he behaved in front of the stewards.

"People remember these sort of things, don't they?

"I am saddened, shocked, disappointed and disheartened."

However, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone dismissed suggestions that Hamilton is in danger of losing public goodwill.

"I don't think in any shape or form (Hamilton will suffer damage to his reputation)," he told BBC1.

"He was put in a position where it looked as though he was telling a lie. But I don't think he went to see the stewards with that intention."

After hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons this week, Hamilton could at least celebrate a hard-earned point with seventh in today's rain-curtailed Malaysian Grand Prix.

"All I could do was try and keep the car on the track," he said.

"It was the correct decision to stop the race because it was just too dangerous for everyone.

"I love it when it rains, but this was just too much."