Friday Review: McLaren – The Chef’s Surprise

The least one can say is that the performance displayed by the MP4-26 this winter was perplexing. A few days before the first Grand Prix, the team decided to change many things on their car. New flat floor, more conventional exhausts, Red Bull type, among others.

This bet may have seemed risky, but it could well pay off, judging by the times set by Button and Hamilton this Friday. Listening to the two drivers, it’s like night and day. The factory staff seems to have done a great job with this McLaren, which has put a smile back on the whole team’s face.

Jenson Button – 6th and 1st:

Today showed that, firstly, we were reliable, which is great. It’s something we didn’t have during the winter. So, having a car that does as many laps as we want is very satisfying. It means that we can focus on the setup and improvement of the single-seater.

I don’t think there is much to learn from today’s sessions, so I’m not going to worry about it. Despite that, it was a positive day because we were able to do a lot of laps and have a good feeling with the car with different fuel loads.

The new exhausts definitely bring performance to the car. Handling is easier. When you have downforce at the rear, you can also add it to the front, then you can better heat up your tires.

«I am very happy with the work done by the guys and what they have brought to this race. They have worked really hard and they have brought something good here. We do not know yet how much, but we are encouraged by the progress we made today.»

Lewis Hamilton – 7th and 2nd:

The car is much better than during winter testing, but I can’t really draw conclusions about the performance of others. We focused on our own program. The tires are really performing well and they hold up well.

Let’s hope we can score some points this weekend, I’m optimistic. The grip is good and has made a big step forward. We don’t know how much fuel the others had, but our car seems to have made good progress compared to a few weeks ago.

It’s simply the result of a lot of hard work: all the men and women at the factory and on the circuit this weekend did a fantastic job. It’s difficult to judge how different our car is, but there is more downforce, which is something we always ask for.

Martin Whitmarsh – Team principal:

Today was a good and solid day. Our two drivers performed well, and we accomplished a lot of work. The Pirelli tires exceeded our expectations in terms of reliability, and we were able to complete some long stints and collect very useful data.

« We used a brand new floor and new exhausts today and it’s always nice to bring new parts to a circuit and see that they bring what we expect. Today we saw a good correlation between the simulator and the track. »

«But you don’t score points on Friday, so even though it’s always good to see your cars finish first and second, we don’t count our chickens before they’re hatched. All I can say is that today has been an encouraging day. We are heading in the right direction and hope to continue this way to find more improvements.