Report – Friday – McLaren falters in the afternoon
Mixed results for McLaren-Mercedes at the end of the first day of testing in the Spanish Grand Prix. Certainly, the lap times were acceptable in the morning, but the number of laps completed was limited. Oversteer for Hamilton and gearbox failure for Kovalainen set the pace for the afternoon session. Both drivers finished beyond the […]
Mixed results for McLaren-Mercedes at the end of the first day of testing in the Spanish Grand Prix. Certainly, the lap times were acceptable in the morning, but the number of laps completed was limited.
Oversteer for Hamilton and gearbox failure for Kovalainen set the pace for the afternoon session. Both drivers finished beyond the 10th place. No doubt that the silver arrows will know how to bounce back at the right moment.
Lewis Hamilton – 3rd and 11th
« We struggled throughout the day’s two sessions with the balance of the single-seater. There was too much oversteer, and we tried many things to improve this aspect. But progress was not forthcoming. We will review the collected data to apply it tomorrow. I am confident that we will find the improvements to make. »
« As is often the case, we conducted our two practice sessions with a lot of fuel. The times do not reflect the real situation. »
Heikki Kovalainen – 5th and 16th
« A rather disappointing day. I managed to do things that weren’t too bad in the morning, but I was cut off in my momentum when an issue arose with my gearbox. The mechanics had to change it for me between sessions. »
« Then, in the afternoon, I lost all my power. I am convinced that tomorrow we will know the problem. Many things can happen. »
Martin Whitmarsh – CEO of McLaren F1
« A bad start for Heikki due to an oil pump problem in the gearbox during the first session. We lost time in the end. Then, in the afternoon, the safety system was activated and stopped the engine. »
« We stopped as a precaution. We will now see what caused this problem because there are several possibilities. Lewis suffered from oversteer. But there is no doubt that we are competitive. »
Norbert Haug – Director of Mercedes Motorsport
The day was difficult and very windy with track conditions constantly changing. The lap times on long runs didn’t seem too bad but Lewis felt more comfortable with his car during last week’s tests. Heikki ran very few laps.
