Sunday: Button and McLaren, First of the Others

Jenson Button – 3rd:

I wasn’t really able to make the tires work here, we had massive degradation on each set, and that prompted the decision to do my last two stints on hard tires. My pace was great and doing two stints with them really allowed me to find the balance and where the grip was.

Earlier in the race, it was disappointing to be overtaken by Fernando. Coming out of turn 5, I saw a lot of debris on the track and I didn’t know where it was coming from. I didn’t want to drive over it but I couldn’t move to the left because Fernando was there. Fernando’s task was rather easy from there.

But the medium tires were working really well and that helped me chase Fernando in the final stint and overtake him in turn 3. Ideally, I wanted to pass him in the first corner because it’s more fun to overtake someone without using DRS, but I positioned myself and overtook him in turn three, after a nice battle on the straight.

We gave it our all today and a podium is a great way to end the year. I achieved 12 podiums this season out of 19 Grand Prix, and I couldn’t finish two due to reliability issues. Overall, it has been a good season for us. There is a lot of positive to take from it. We will work hard this winter and fight from the first race. We just need to start the season a bit stronger, that’s all, and that’s our goal. We want to give Red Bull a hard time in 2012.

Finally, I would like to say a big thank you to the whole team, we have really grown together this year. I truly feel like I am part of the McLaren family now: there is a lot of passion in this team and I am proud to be a part of it.

Lewis Hamilton – Retirement:

At the start, I wanted to be cautious, and that meant I lost a place to Fernando. After that, my race pace was decent, and I was able to stay in touch with Fernando and Jenson until I encountered a gearbox problem. It happened quite early – I had an issue with the first and second gears – and that meant I was losing quite a bit of time, allowing Fernando and Jenson to get ahead. I couldn’t shift properly anymore, then I lost seventh gear, and everything failed.

Of course, it’s not the way I would have liked to finish the season, but it wasn’t so bad, I enjoyed my race while it lasted. I was battling with Felipe and hoped to pass him, but then the gearbox failure forced me to stop.

The year has been long, and I want to say a huge thank you to the team. They never gave up and worked incredibly hard all season. We didn’t get the final result we expected, but we had some good times.

I’m going to tackle next season: it will be my year!

Martin Whitmarsh – Team Principal:

« Today we once again witnessed a brilliant performance from Jenson, who has driven magnificently all season, but particularly in the second half. It was his eighth podium in the last nine races, and the only one missing from this splendid sequence is the South Korean Grand Prix, which he finished in fourth place.

Today he drove cleanly, cleverly, patiently, but also powerfully, and the way he optimized his pace on hard tires was masterful […] which allowed him to secure a magnificent third place in the final laps of the race.

Lewis also drove extremely well today, but unfortunately, a gearbox failure betrayed him. Quite early, we noted a loss of oil pressure, then he lost seventh gear and eventually lost everything and was forced to retire. But before that, he was improvising intelligently and never gave up. Moreover, his always combative attitude played a significant role in the show offered all afternoon and surely delighted viewers worldwide.

Lewis had a very difficult year, but his stunning performances here and especially in Abu Dhabi, where he claimed his third victory of the season, are a compelling testament to his vigorous resurgence. He is already focused on 2012, and I am sure he will be ready for the next season with his usual determination and desire to win.

We can say the same about McLaren and Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines, in fact. We have been focusing our energy on the MP4-27 for some time now and we will maintain this consistent effort throughout the winter.

All things considered, 2011 was a decently good year for us. We are finishing it in second place in the constructors’ championship, 122 points ahead of the team in third place and 332 points ahead of the one in fourth, but our goal is to win. Next year, we want to achieve that.