Sunday: McLaren and Hamilton happily return to the podium

Lewis Hamilton – 2nd

« It was one of my best races of the season. I had such pressure from Mark (Webber) behind and it would have been so easy to make a mistake, lock the wheels, or go wide – but I’m really satisfied that I didn’t. I think being able to handle pressure is the mark of champions, and I think I showed that today during the race. Our car started well, but the front gradually degraded throughout the race. In the end, all the buttons that could help me were adjusted to the maximum! »

« The differential and the front wing were also at the maximum possible settings, and I couldn’t do anything more. I was approaching the corners with the wheels locking, and yet it was difficult for me to turn – so I couldn’t maintain much speed in the corners, and that’s why Mark was able to catch up with me. It was only after the race that I saw a piece of debris had lodged in my front wing, and that’s probably what caused the understeer. It’s a good result for the team. The guys didn’t make a single mistake all weekend, so we should be proud today – but it was tough! I really hope we can continue our momentum in the next three races. It’s good to be back. »

Jenson Button – 4th

I don’t think I could have done better than 4th today. I struggled to overcome understeer throughout the race, so fourth is really the best the car could do today. On the first lap, I braked at turn 3, but Felipe (Massa) came on the inside, and I found myself on the outside and lost several places. At the end of the first lap, I was sixth, but I don’t think that bad first lap changed the final result. Throughout the race, I didn’t have much grip at the front. I also couldn’t get into the zone to activate the DRS, so it was always difficult to try to overtake the car in front when I didn’t have the top speed advantage.

I was passed by Nico (Rosberg) after my first stop when he finally made a mistake at the pit exit. The exit is really unusual: if you leave the pits behind another car, then you can probably get ahead because you have the benefit of DRS at turn 3. But Nico locked his wheels at the pit exit and went wide, so I passed him, and he crossed the DRS line behind me and was able to use his DRS to pass me on the straight. I was able to pass him quickly and get back into the battle for second place between Lewis and Mark. But towards the end of my stint, the front was degrading quickly: I couldn’t get closer in the last sector. I added more front wing during my stops, but I still had a lot of understeer so I couldn’t get close enough to Mark to use DRS. I think I only used DRS once during the race. So, if that was a bad day, it’s not so bad after all!

Martin Whitmarsh – Director of the McLaren team

I think Lewis’s race today was very inspiring. He might underestimate it because he’s a perfectionist and wanted to win, but to withstand such pressure, lap after lap, from a faster car, was worthy of the greatest champions. His finishing position might go down in the history books as another second place for him, but making no mistake was fantastic; truly magnificent and perfectly judged. To top it off, the data showed he lost a lot of downforce at the front. After the race, we looked at Lewis’s front wing and saw that a hole on the front left was filled with rubber, undoubtedly because of the marbles off-line. As a result, he had to deal with a lot of understeer, which wore his tires down even more. In such circumstances, it was really a great race from him because it would have been easy to lose positions with such understeer and pressure.

Jenson also had a very good race. On his car, we also discovered after the race that he had damage – due to a stone that hit the front wing. He therefore also suffered from understeer which prevented him from closing on Mark in the last sector, and so he couldn’t attack in the DRS zone and finished 3rd. Nevertheless, today showed that we have a good car. But more importantly, it showed that we have two brilliant race drivers who fight from the start of the race to the finish, never giving up.

«Their inspired races today are a fitting reward for the entire Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team, who have spent the last two weeks away from home, their families, and friends. While we must all acknowledge the success of Red Bull Racing, who clinched the constructors’ title today, I also want to commend the efforts and sacrifices made by our entire team over the past two weeks. This has allowed us to score 65 points in the last two races – a total that now consolidates our position in the constructors’ championship. So, after two fantastic races in Japan and Korea, I want to send a big thank you to the entire team. There are still three races to go in 2011 – I know I speak for everyone when I say we want to win all three of them! »