Assessment – Saturday – McLaren on the 3rd row. A poor performance?

Just like Scuderia Ferrari, McLaren Mercedes was absent from this morning’s free practice 3 as both drivers, Hamilton and Kovalainen, finished the session beyond 10th place.

The Silver Arrows fortunately made progress in the afternoon for qualifying, but there’s a slight scent of disappointment in the air! Tomorrow, the Briton and the Finn will start from the third row with the 2007 vice-world champion ahead of his teammate.

Lewis Hamilton – 11th and 5th:

« I am very surprised not to see us higher on the grid. The car was performing very well. Throughout qualifying, the car was very stable, but we are still ahead, which means we will have an exciting race. »

Being on the third row is not the end of the world! The key to the race now is to get a good start if we want to hope to win. Additionally, we have a good strategy.

Heikki Kovalainen – 15th and 6th:

« I did not expect to be on the third row because I thought I had a very good end to qualifying. However, the times are very close to each other. I could have ended up a few places ahead but that’s life. I don’t know if yesterday’s lack of balance will have an effect tomorrow. »

The team did an excellent job to make the car competitive. I think we will be able to have a good race.

Ron Dennis – McLaren F1 Director:

« Of course, we would have preferred to be a bit better placed on the grid, but from the 3rd row, nothing is lost. We are well prepared and I believe our strategy will be effective. »

« The race will be interesting because there are a large number of drivers capable of winning, which is excellent for the spectators. I am certain that Lewis, Heikki, and the entire team will do their utmost to be competitive. »

Norbert Haug – Director of Mercedes Motorsport:

The 5th and 6th positions are not fabulous results but we are still less than three-tenths from pole position. The four or five riders ahead of us are therefore well within our reach.

Lewis and Heikki are feeling confident in the car. Our interim times during testing can only reassure them so that the goal now is to achieve better results tomorrow than today in qualifying.