Friday: Tire issues to resolve for McLaren
Jenson Button set the fastest time in the second practice session today, but the British driver is not yet completely satisfied with his car, particularly the tires. The same goes for Lewis Hamilton, who knows he still needs to work to improve.
Jenson Button – 4th and 1st
« It was a positive afternoon. I had a good run with the Softs, the car is working well, and our new features seem to be working fine. But there are still improvements to be made.
The Softs should be a bit easier for everyone and they are more receptive to getting up to temperature. During Free Practice 2, we started to find a way to make the Hards work, but then, later in the session, we couldn’t replicate it.
If we can solve these problems with the Hards and get them working in the right window, I think we should be competitive this weekend. There are a lot of fast cars here, but from an aerodynamic point of view, I think we have a good car. We just need to make sure that the four things in contact with the road work properly for us as well.
Lewis Hamilton – 8th and 4th
The single-seater seems better than it was during the last race – there have been several improvements on the car. My long stint this afternoon was very satisfying and there is a lot of positive to take from it, but there is still time to find, as Jenson has shown.
I had a bit of trouble setting up the car properly today. It was a bit inconsistent, so it was difficult to find exactly what was needed to make it better. But we will look at the data to identify our main issues, and I am confident that we can improve things tonight.
In any case, the new developments for this race seem to be working well, and we have a good pace on long stints. The guys at the factory have done a fantastic job. It’s been a positive day, and we are right there, in the fight (at the front).
