Sunday: McLaren hoped for better
Both McLaren drivers started from the front row in Malaysia, aiming for a victory or at least a podium finish. While Lewis Hamilton finished on the podium, the British driver still hoped for a bit more, although he was pleased with his race. Jenson Button clearly hoped for better, but a collision with Karthikeyan forced him to pit to change his front wing, ending his chances of a good result, and he ultimately finished in 14th position.
Lewis Hamilton – 3rd
«It was a tough but thrilling race – first of all, I want to congratulate Fernando (Alonso) and Sergio (Pérez) – they both had a fantastic race and did an excellent job. It was a race full of twists and turns: it was difficult to judge the best moment to switch from rain tires to intermediates, and we probably did it a bit too late – but that happens sometimes.»
«Today, not everything was perfect – deciding to put on slicks is always a risk, and others did it a bit earlier than us. Overall, we lost time during the stops and I was edged out of the fight as a result. But, on the whole, it was a positive weekend and I’m not too frustrated. My goal for this season is to always be consistent – I did it in 2007 so I’m trying to repeat that!
A big thank you to Lucozade for doing a great job with new formulas for our hydrating drinks this weekend – it made a big difference with such hot and humid weather. For me, in the upcoming races, it will mainly be about converting our good form in qualifying equally into the race – that’s what I’ll be working on in the next few weeks before the Chinese Grand Prix.
Jenson Button – 14th
Today, it has been a difficult day; almost everything that could go wrong in the race went awry. And it was because of one thing – many of my problems came after I damaged my front wing at the start: I locked the rear, couldn’t slow down the car, and hit Karthikeyan, which was a bit frustrating. So I had to go back through the pits for a new front wing, and it was almost over for me.
« And it’s always difficult when you fall back to 14th or 15th position. All the cars are so close, and it was difficult to overtake as well. A big congratulations to Fernando, Sergio, and Lewis, who scored points for the team – it just wasn’t my day today. What’s incredible is that I’m still third in the championship even though I didn’t score any points! It certainly wasn’t the result I was hoping for – but that’s how it is: we’ll move forward and hope for a better weekend in China! »
Martin Whitmarsh – Team Director
Today, it wasn’t the day I hoped for! First of all, it was an incredible race for Ferrari and an amazing result for Sauber – congratulations to these two teams. It was frustrating for us, as the race didn’t go well for us, but today’s result is a very good result for Formula 1.
For Jenson, it was simply a bad day – losing his front wing in difficult conditions made for a tough afternoon. Lewis was also a bit unlucky: Ferrari’s double stop forced us to keep him out longer than he should have been, but that’s racing. Nevertheless, he brings back big points for the championship – the 15 points scored strengthen Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team’s lead in the constructors’ standings.
Today’s conditions have constantly been a roll of the dice. We didn’t manage everything correctly, but we’ll analyze our performance. However, in normal dry conditions, we’ve shown we have good pace. The season is still long, and with one win and two very good podiums, we can return to Europe very encouraged for the upcoming races.
