Saturday report: McLaren – The Greys are lying in wait
The McLaren drivers, or rather their car, continue to amaze in Melbourne. Moribund in the heart of winter, the English team has regained all its verve at Albert Park and is honoring its position as runner-up in the constructors' championship.
Although hampered by a problem with the Kinetic Energy Recovery System for Lewis Hamilton and hindered by traffic for Jenson Button, the two McLarens are far from Sebastian Vettel and hope to capitalize on race management to outsmart the Red Bull driver.
Lewis Hamilton – 3rd and 2nd
«I am really happy with my drive today. The car was fantastic, and I owe it all to the guys at the factory, in the design office, and to the technicians. They can congratulate themselves. It was a brave decision to make such a radical change to the car, and a superb effort to implement these changes. A magnificent turnaround!
However, although I am satisfied with my performance today, my SREC stopped working halfway through my last lap, but it would have only given us a few tenths more. Now, it’s still good to know, this car is definitely a good base to build on.
Tomorrow, the race will be long and it will not be won at the first corner. We need to bring some points home because we know our car can only improve.
We still have work to do, but I think we can aim for victory and force Sébastian to have the race of his life tomorrow!
Jenson Button – 4th and 4th
« I think we should be happy with this result. Q3 was a bit disappointing, however, I got stuck behind Nico [Rosberg] and Felipe [Massa] spun in front of me. […]
We did not make the most of our package in Q3, but it’s nevertheless a huge step forward compared to what we had in practice, so we should all be very happy with what we have done so far.
And there is still much to do: the car is still in its early stages because we haven’t done a lot of testing. Being reliable and fairly fast gives us huge motivation: everyone at the factory can really be proud, they have worked hard to bring us here today.
I really can’t wait for tomorrow. I had a good race from 4th place last year and I think I can repeat that this year as well. We have to be positive and I think we can fight for the win tomorrow.
Martin Whitmarsh
« Yesterday’s session showed us that the improvements made to the car in the last few weeks have been significant. So I want to say a big thank you to all the guys here in Melbourne and the factory in Woking, who have worked with all their might to make this possible.
Lewis and Jenson also did an excellent job this weekend, and the result – second and fourth on the starting grid for tomorrow’s race – is very encouraging.
Lewis could have gone a little faster if he hadn’t suffered a KERS failure. […] He not only lost the performance boost that KERS provides but it also compromised the braking balance. A double blow, if you prefer.
But the Parc Fermé regulations allow us to make the necessary repairs, and so he and Jenson are looking forward to engaging in the battle with Red Bull at Albert Park tomorrow afternoon.
