Friday: McLaren and Hamilton think they can fight for the victory

Lewis Hamilton – 1st and 2nd

We spent the day working on the wing settings – it seems that some teams are running with less downforce than us, but once we use the DRS, we seem really good. It’s interesting to see the different levels of downforce, some teams are faster on the straights, but we are faster in the second sector. It’s always a compromise, but our pace on the long runs doesn’t seem too bad.

We were quite strong in both sessions, and with a full tank, I think we were stronger than the Ferraris. At the end of FP2, the Red Bulls seemed very strong, but I’m almost sure they didn’t have the same fuel level as us, which is encouraging.

Jenson and I were running with the same wing settings, and I felt really good with them. We’re going to make a few small changes overnight, but I think we can take on the Red Bulls this weekend. The car is really good, and we’re continuing to make gradual progress, but it’s going to be a tough race.

Jenson Button – 2nd and 7th

« Some small things we tried on my car during the day worked better than others, so we’re not yet where I think we should be, and we haven’t yet determined what level of downforce to run.

I don’t feel completely comfortable in the car yet, but we are working on it. In fact, I think it’s going to be a lot of data to look at tonight before choosing a direction for the rest of the weekend. Anyway, there is ‘fresh’ surface all over the circuit, which makes the track slippery, making it challenging for the tires, especially on a long stint.