Sunday: McLaren sees reasons to believe after Germany

Jenson Button – 2nd:

« I had a very good race and really enjoyed myself on the track. I got a good start, executed some nice maneuvers on both Nico [Hülkenberg] and Michael [Schumacher], and maintained a solid pace all afternoon.

Vettel’s overtaking is quite simple to judge: the rule states that you cannot go off the track and gain an advantage. The fact is he would have had other opportunities before the end of the race while my tires were damaged. I had to push hard to try to catch Fernando [Alonso], which meant I had nothing left for the end of the race. We had no rubber left two laps before the checkered flag.

There are two big satisfactions to take away from today: first, although it proved difficult to overtake, we are on par with Ferrari and Red Bull in terms of speed. Our new parts are working well: if we manage to do well in qualifying, we are in the game and will have a good chance of winning races this season.

Then, although there have been criticisms about our pit stops, the guys did an amazing job today. My fastest stop took only 2″31, and I was told it was the fastest in history. They were phenomenal and gave absolutely everything today: our efforts are really paying off now.

I am already looking towards Hungary: it’s a special place for me and I am really confident that we can have another great race weekend.

Lewis Hamilton – Retirement

« My puncture on the second lap was an incredible stroke of bad luck: there was debris all over the width of the track and I had no choice but to go through it. What is more frustrating at that moment is that I was the eighth car to pass, so being the one who ends up with the puncture is just cruel.

It immediately became clear that my car was not behaving the same way after the puncture. However, after a few laps, I was able to adapt my driving style and the car had a good pace in the middle stint. However, to be honest, with the damage at the back, I think we were lucky to be able to go that far.

At least I was able to have fun on track: my pace was good enough to keep up with the leaders in the second stint. And that’s encouraging for me because we know our car was really fast this weekend. A huge thank you to everyone at the factory for their efforts to bring new parts to the car this weekend: every little bit helps and we know there’s even more coming.

I’m back in the car in five days and that’s the best possible news for me after a day like this.