Friday: An Aggressive Approach at McLaren

After three unfortunate races where none of the drivers managed to score any points, the McLaren team arrives on home soil. Unfortunately, the Silverstone circuit is very fast and does not suit the recalcitrant MP4/24. Although the drivers generally lack grip, especially in the fast sections of the circuit, they are pleased with the car’s balance.

Furthermore, McLaren questions the use of KERS: Lewis Hamilton will not be equipped with it this weekend. Objective: to compare the data from the two cars and make a development decision for the rest of the season!

Lewis Hamilton – 8th and 7th:

« It took me some time to get used to my car this morning. It behaves a bit differently than what we experienced in previous races. In general, I am very happy with the balance, but with the updates to the car and on this high-speed circuit, it took longer than usual to find the limit. »

« It’s no secret, we’re lacking speed in the fast sections. But the car wasn’t so bad today. The balance was good, we made some changes to the setup and it seems to make the car more consistent. But it’s already one of my best weekends of the year for me because I’m at my home Grand Prix and the fans are incredible here. I’ve seen and felt their support from the very first lap I did today. »

Heikki Kovalainen – 12th and 12th:

« First of all, it’s good to be back at Silverstone because it’s a circuit I love. I took pole position last year and I really enjoy driving here. We know we’re facing a tough weekend because we’re lacking grip, but the car’s balance wasn’t too bad this morning. Since Lewis is driving without KERS this weekend, we now need to analyze the balance of both cars and see what we need to do for the rest of the season. »

« We are making obvious progress. It’s still difficult to say if it’s an advantage to race with KERS, but I feel that I will have an advantage thanks to this system. This weekend will focus on developing our setups and analyzing the differences in pace between Lewis and me. All team members are working like crazy, and we will have a better understanding of the car. Whatever happens, we are going to learn many important things about the car this weekend. »

Martin Whitmarsh – Team Principal:

« We are fully aware that the characteristics of the Silverstone circuit do not suit our technical package, but we have an aggressive approach for this weekend, separating the development programs of our drivers to better understand the overall nature of the changes we will make on each of the cars. »

We will learn some important information thanks to this approach, and we are confident that we will benefit from it and that it will allow us to overcome the incredibly difficult challenge awaiting us on Saturday and for Sunday’s race.