Friday: McLaren is surprised by the performance of the MP4-24

The Bahrain circuit, located in the middle of the desert, is known for being very slippery. The dusty track annoys the teams, but this year, the wind seems to have calmed down. McLaren is delighted and has very good grip on the MP4/24. Ideal for finding and improving the balance of the car: the key to success for setting lap times at the limit of the driver’s skills.

Thus, from the first session, the British firm posted good times. The rest of the day also went well with encouraging lap times despite an issue with the KERS.

Heikki Kovalainen indeed had to stop his car a few laps before the end of the second free practice session due to the KERS. Hamilton’s worked fine, and the reigning world champion clocked the 11th fastest time, very close to the best times of the day, with the competition being kept within less than one and a half seconds.

The single-seater is no different, just like Ferrari, from the one used in China, but it suits the Sakhir track much better. The forecasts are optimistic.

Lewis Hamilton – 1st and 11th:

« We really found a well-balanced car here. The grip was good right from the start of the session and we had very consistent results. We made progress in both sessions; they were very productive. »

« For the moment, everything is very tight but we seem to be better than before even if we haven’t made significant progress. In fact, the car has not had any updates since China and our goal will be to score a few more points. »

Heikki Kovalainen – 6th and 19th:

« The track had – and it’s surprising – grip from the start of the day, even if the pit lane is more dusty and slippery… »

« Personally, I felt better with the old front wing, but we probably still need to evaluate this specification before judging it too quickly. We still want to make progress and we seem to have improved since Shanghai. In fact, I think the long straights and heavy braking suit the car quite well. »

« I had an issue with my KERS at the end of the session this afternoon. I might have been able to do better laps with it, but we will be better in qualifying tomorrow anyway. »

Martin Whitmarsh – Director:

« I am satisfied with the progress we made today. Considering the performance issues we had before, we wanted to be very thorough today and properly test each adjustment we made on the MP4/24. »

Our times this morning were really flattering, and then those in the afternoon very encouraging. We raced like that in Shanghai, but here we have a better balance, and it’s a good base for the rest of the weekend.