Sunday: The McLarens suffered on Soft tires
While they were ahead of Fernando Alonso on the grid, the Asturian ultimately overtook the two McLarens, which were not in harmony with the Soft tires during the first stint of the race. The pace improved after the single pit stop, where Lewis Hamilton had to change steering wheel, finishing 4th despite a constant attack, and after which Jenson was held up behind Romain Grosjean, on a different strategy, for a final 5th place.
Lewis Hamilton – 4th:
I still don’t understand why I got off to such a bad start – it made me lose ground and I got attacked by the guys behind. During the first lap, I focused primarily on not hitting Jenson, and then I saw Fernando [Alonso] in my right mirror. He was slipstreaming from far behind. Even if I had gotten a better start, the guys in front might have been a bit too fast for us, especially in the first stint.
And during this first stint, I began to encounter a problem with downshifting – I had to shift to a lower gear with my right hand instead of the left, so the team decided to change the steering wheel during the pit stop.
I had never had to change a steering wheel during a race before. We had done it in tests in Barcelona before, but never in a race. Despite that, the guys did it fantastically and quickly, under immense pressure, so I want to say “Well done!” to all of them. I removed the steering wheel even before stopping the car and threw it outside. The team then installed a new one, I engaged first gear, and I was off – all in just over 3 seconds.
I tried to pursue Mark [Webber] in the last laps, but it was too late and he was too fast for me to seriously give him a hard time. But I never give up, and until the last corner, I thought I could catch up with him, but it wasn’t meant to be.
But still, I loved this race today – I can’t remember the last time I attacked from so far away, for so long, just on the limit – it was great. It was fantastic, actually, to be in the middle of such a battle.
I am also so proud of all the guys from the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team – it was really a great race.
Jenson Button – 5th:
The start was the pinnacle of my race – there were only millimeters between Lewis, Fernando [Alonso], and me. I’ve never had a start like that – incredibly contested – and no one touched. It was so close, so tight, and yet so clean. It’s just a shame that the rest of the race wasn’t as enjoyable!
My first stint was rather disappointing; I think we may have struggled more with the Softs than others, so I couldn’t hold off the guys behind me. I then pitted earlier than expected so that we could find a better balance on the Hard tires, but that didn’t work because I got stuck behind Romain [Grosjean], which cost me more time.
But setting the fastest lap in the last lap was great, and I think there’s a lot of potential we can build on and bring with us to Abu Dhabi next weekend.
