Sunday Report: McLaren Mercedes: An Encouraging Weekend

The Woking team seems to have conquered its winter demons, climbing back up the timing sheets with Red Bull. But now that tire management is crucial, Jenson Button has gained an advantage from his driving compared to the more aggressive style of his teammate.

Jenson Button – 2nd:

« It’s an extremely encouraging weekend for us. It’s really satisfying to come away with a lot of points for the world championship, everyone in the team did a fantastic job, and we should feel very proud of ourselves.

Today’s race was really about tire management. On the way to the grid, I did something that caused a lot of understeer in the first stint, damaging the rear tires. It was a mistake and I had a bad balance. So at each pit stop, I adjusted the front wing a bit, which allowed me to increase my pace more and more. In the end, the hard tire was really working for me. I know Lewis had a problem at one of his stops, and that’s why I was able to come out ahead of him, but my pace was very good anyway. It was a good afternoon.

In the last laps, the team told me to take it easy on the tires, but I was chasing Sebastian (Vettel) as much as I could, but it wasn’t enough. We should all feel very encouraged by the fact that we have a good and solid package. I still don’t believe we have the best yet, but I hope that will be the case in China, and that Lewis and I will both have a good race.

Lewis Hamilton – 8th (7th before penalty):

Today was just one of those days. It’s never satisfying to start second and finish seventh, but that’s racing. We just have to take it like that and keep going.

At the start, I was on the outside at the first corner, I was quite fast, and it was difficult to defend without risking touching Jenson or Nick. Then, during the race, my tires were dropping in performance, we stopped earlier than what would have been optimal, and had no tires left at the end. I was hoping to finish the race on a set of worn hard tires, but they didn’t hold, and I had to make a pit stop towards the end of the race.

There are several factors that made the afternoon very difficult: the setback during my stop, being chased by several cars while I was trying to manage my tires, being hit from behind by Fernando (Alonso). I think he was a bit too close, and when he moved over, he hit me with his wing and broke something at the back of my car. I don’t know how much downforce it cost me.

Today wasn’t the best of days, but I’m going to China with the goal of winning, I’m only looking forward.

Martin Whitmarsh

Jenson really delivered an excellent race today, attacking hard when required but managing his tires when necessary, resulting in a very good second place.

Lewis had a difficult afternoon, his frustration started at the first corner of the first lap when Nick unexpectedly overtook him from sixth place on the starting grid. After that, Lewis did his best to regain his position, and inevitably the preservation of his tires was compromised.

But that’s racing, and for Lewis, I just imagine it’s one of those days. For example, we made a total of seven pit stops today, six were under four seconds, but one was around six seconds, and it’s due to chance that it happened to be one of Lewis’s. Additionally, we couldn’t give him a second stint on soft tires since he damaged them during qualifying yesterday.

Towards the end of the race, Lewis was struggling with his hard tires, and although from a conventional point of view, an additional stop wasn’t an attractive option, that’s what he was asking for and in reality, it was probably the safest thing to do. Tire degradation was an issue for everyone today, and you absolutely have to listen to your driver in such conditions.

Having said all that, scoring 22 points in the world championship is a good thing, and it gives us a foundation to build on for when we arrive in Shanghai in a few days. The team has done a fantastic job in the last few weeks – well done again guys – and if we can maintain that, we can clearly challenge Red Bull next weekend.

Finally, I want to thank Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines, whose V8 and KERS system worked very well this weekend, as well as ExxonMobil, whose Mobil1 fuel and oil are significant factors in ensuring excellent cooling and engine reliability in conditions like Sepang.

Lewis Hamilton received a penalty, the details of which you can discover HERE