Sunday: Hamilton and McLaren lose significant points
McLaren and its drivers will not necessarily have fond memories of the 2012 European Grand Prix. While Jenson Button had to fight in the pack, Lewis Hamilton could have aimed for a valuable podium before encountering tire problems towards the end of the race, which put him under pressure from Pastor Maldonado, resulting in his retirement.
Jenson Button – 8th:
« It was really a difficult race to read. I had a bad start, I got hit at turn 1 and I had to lift off to avoid both Fernando [Alonso] and myself hitting the wall at turn 2.
I don’t think we did a bad job in terms of strategy, the car seemed good and was improving throughout the race, but when the safety car was deployed, I think others had happier strategies [than ours]. Today, we were unlucky.
Finally, huge congratulations to Fernando who did an amazing job. Let’s hope we can do the same at our home race in two weeks.
Lewis Hamilton – Retirement:
« My congratulations to Fernando: he did an amazing job today making his way from eleventh place. We lost a few points today [but] fortunately a few other drivers fighting at the top also lost some, so it’s not the end of the world. It just makes things a bit more challenging.
Today was simply a bad day, but that’s motor racing, and I’m already looking forward to the next Grand Prix, my home race, at Silverstone.
