Sunday: Hamilton saves the day for McLaren

Lewis Hamilton – 5th

I got off to a bad start – I didn’t understand why it happened – and I was lucky not to be caught in the first corner crash. During the race, I struggled in the slow corners and managing the rear tires was complicated. Making them last as long as we did, while keeping up with the pace of the guys in front, was one of the trickiest things to do today in the race.

I lost time during my pit stop and was overtaken by Fernando (Alonso), and then Sebastian (Vettel) managed to pass after his stop. After that, it was impossible to overtake. Today wasn’t the best result for me – I really don’t like losing positions in the race – but I think I extracted everything I could from the car.

We are still scoring some points, and there are still many races to go, but we clearly have work to do because, race after race, we struggle to stay with the leaders. The other teams are making big progress as well. We cannot let them get away – but we are a fantastic team, we will come together, and we are really going to attack now.

Jenson Button – Withdrawal

At the start, Kamui (Kobayashi) almost landed on my car because he had to avoid someone else. Then I was almost blocked at the exit of Sainte-Dévote, but I managed to get out. After my stop, I found myself behind Heikki (Kovalainen) – we weren’t really fighting, because if you position your car in the right place on the circuit, then it’s impossible to overtake. It’s really very frustrating when you are much faster than the guy in front.

Finally, I had an opening on the inside at turn 15 (coming out of the Swimming Pool), we made contact, and I got a puncture. Game over. Today’s result stems from a poor performance in qualifying and bad luck at the start. Additionally, when you start in the middle of the pack, you’re more prone to incidents. It wasn’t my day today – but hopefully, it will be soon.