Friday: Hamilton Happy and Button Unlucky at McLaren

Lewis Hamilton – 1st and 1st

« I am very happy with my start to the weekend: happy that the rain spared both sessions and happy that we were able to make a lot of good changes to the setup. It’s an excellent track to drive: it’s a place that requires 100% concentration and where the driver can really make a difference. It highlights the differences between drivers. Today, even though the super soft tires were slightly faster, I preferred to drive with the soft tires. It was an unfortunate day for Jenson, who had some issues with the rear of his car. Nevertheless, I was very happy that he could finally take the track at the end of the session and cover a few laps. It’s a circuit where it’s important to drive a lot because there are walls quite close, and you need to improve your speed gradually. So, today was positive, but it won’t be easy this weekend, not only for qualifying but also for the race. »

Jenson Button – 10th and 9th

« Well, we certainly had some problems today. We had an oil leak on the car this morning, so the mechanics had to disassemble and reassemble the gearbox. And on top of that, we found another problem, so they had to disassemble and reassemble it again! They did a very good job, but the delays prevented us from completing any stint with a lot of fuel or any work on the setup, because we had to go out and do a few laps. This means we haven’t set up the car optimally. Despite that, as I said, I want to give a huge thank you to the guys who worked quickly to get everything fixed. They’ve been fantastic. But I’m not too worried: the car was running well, and Lewis was fast all day, so there’s a lot of good information to work with for tomorrow. I love driving here, so we’re hoping for a bit more luck tomorrow. »