Friday: McLaren is not in its place!
The 2013 season does not start in the best way for McLaren. The MP4-28 is not in the rhythm and concedes several seconds to the best cars on the grid. There is therefore work to be done to try to reduce this gap as quickly as possible.
Jenson Button – 9th and 11th:
« Clearly, we are not as fast as we would like. We must now work hard to find out why our car is like this, particularly in terms of behavior and downforce. Our short runs were not particularly encouraging, to be frank. We are several seconds behind the best and it is always disappointing for a team as prestigious as McLaren-Mercedes. But in a situation like this, all you can say is that there is a lot of work to be done. This team is incredibly good at turning things around when necessary. We will now spend the next few hours working hard, studying the data, and I am confident that we will be able to find improvements for tomorrow. Qualifying will not be easy but I am convinced that we will do better on Saturday than we did today. »
Sergio Pérez – 11th and 13th:
« We are having a bit of a hard time, to be honest. We are not as competitive as we would like to be. But we are working and as Jenson said, we should be able to make improvements for tomorrow. I know how good the guys on the team are. I could see it from the outside and now I see it from the inside. There is no doubt that they can close the gap with the cars in front, better and faster than anyone. It’s important to remember that the Australian Grand Prix is only the first race of the season and there is still a long way to go. We knew before coming here that we wouldn’t be as fast as other teams but our goal is always to score as many points as possible. Competition in Formula 1 is incredibly intense and every point counts. »
