Friday: The McLaren team confirms its return to the forefront

After a victory in Hungary and a nice podium in Valencia, Lewis Hamilton was expected to honor his new favorite status during the free practice sessions. After a very eventful first session due to weather conditions, only Heikki Kovalainen managed to set the 8th fastest time, almost 4 seconds off the morning’s best time, Jarno Trulli. The reigning world champion, Lewis Hamilton, who couldn’t complete a single lap, ranked in the last position.

The second session was topped by the Briton who managed to take the first place. His Finnish teammate settled for 12th position. The McLarens clearly have a role to play during tomorrow’s qualifying. It will be a role described as that of an arbitrator in the Brawn GP/Red Bull duel, which gives the team from Woking every chance to perform well on the grid, or even to secure a second pole position.

Lewis Hamilton – 20th and 1st:

« I am happy today because I expected it. We don’t have as much support as other teams, and we are not as fast, especially in the middle sector. Fortunately, we have the KERS and we can use it to our advantage in the first and third sectors. The car is not as fantastic, but we only had one session to find a setup. Compared to Turkey or Silverstone, it’s a considerable improvement, and we are competitive. So we are not unhappy. »

Heikki Kovalainen – 8th and 12th:

« I think slow corners suit the car better than fast corners. So I think we still lose a bit of time in high-speed corners compared to the fastest cars. But we have definitely made some good improvements in this area and the car is showing positive signs and seems to be working very well here in Belgium. We will work on a strong strategy for the race, and we should be able to fight for the top spots in tomorrow’s qualifying.

Martin Whitmarsh – Team Manager:

« As always in Spa, the weather played an important role in our preparation for the race – but the local micro-climate is one of the peculiarities of the place and is often the reason for unusual results. As an example, this morning’s rainfall rendered the practice session practically useless.

In practice this afternoon, the blue sky allowed us to complete our data and compile a set of analyses. There is still room for improvement, and there is much work to be done for the qualifications, but we end the first day encouraged by the speed of our overall package.