Saturday: A Belgian cold shower for McLaren

The result for McLaren Mercedes was very disappointing during the second day of the Belgian Grand Prix. Dominant on Friday, the drivers of the silver arrows faced the limits of their car after being very competitive on the slow tracks of Hungary and Valencia. The flaws of the MP4/24 have not yet been fully erased, and the Spa Francorchamps circuit is a relentless judge.

During an extremely competitive qualifying session, especially against unexpected opponents, the McLaren drivers stopped in Q2. Lewis Hamilton—barely making it into Q2—will start only from 12th place. Unsurprisingly, it was at Silverstone, the last fast circuit, that the world champion last qualified outside the top 10. Kovalainen will start from 15th on the grid.

Given the peculiarities of the Belgian Grand Prix, the drivers still have high hopes of aiming for points in the race.

Lewis Hamilton – 9th and 12th:

«We did the best job we could today. We always knew the car would struggle in the corners of sector 2: being a second slower in that sector shows the real level of our car’s downforce. We expected not to have as good an aero package as the best teams, we just didn’t know by how much. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow.»

«But I’m not too disappointed, this year has been a roller coaster for everyone, but I enjoy it and I love driving on this circuit. My goal for tomorrow is to finish in the points.»

Heikki Kovalainen – 13th and 15th:

« We were too slow in high-speed corners, more so than in Hungary and Valencia, because the configuration of these circuits was slower. We expected to face difficulties today, and our result shows that we still lack downforce, high-speed efficiency, and top speed.

That said, it was very close today, there was a lot of traffic and with just two tenths less, we could have entered Q3.

I will push hard tomorrow and I am confident that I can make progress, but we know where we are and we are not disheartened because of it. We have made good progress since Silverstone and we will continue to push hard to solve our problems.

Martin Withmarsh – Director

« First of all, I want to say “well done” to Force India on their first pole position. For us, the reality is that we haven’t provided our drivers with a fast enough car, and the consequence is a disappointing qualifying. Having said that, the microclimate here is always unpredictable, and it is a very long lap and upsets are quite common. So Lewis and Heikki will both aim for points tomorrow.