Report: Third best team for McLaren, for lack of a better option

The challenge for McLaren was to finish ahead of Ferrari. Neither Hamilton (retired) nor Kovalainen (11th) managed to finish in the points, but in their misfortune, McLaren did not have to worry about the Ferrari drivers finishing even further behind than Kovalainen. Despite starting from Pole Position, Hamilton suffered a problem with his right rear brake, forcing him to slow down during the first stint, and ultimately retire during the second.

Heikki Kovalainen, despite being 18th on the grid following a 5-place penalty for a gearbox change, managed to finish 11th, ahead of Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen. Thus, McLaren-Mercedes retains its 3rd place by a single point. (71 against 70)

In the end, Lewis Hamilton showcased his talent by finishing as the 5th best driver with 49 points. Heikki Kovalainen, less prominent than his teammate, finished with 22 points in 12th place, tied with Felipe Massa.

Lewis Hamilton – Retirement:

I had a good start, but I understood very early on that something was wrong with the brakes. After 3 or 4 laps, it became clear that there was a problem with my right rear brake pad. I couldn’t get ahead of Sebastian [Vettel] and Mark [Webber]. When the problem got worse, the team sent me a radio message and asked me to stop at the end of the lap. Of course, it’s a shame compared to the results we had throughout the weekend, but that’s racing. However, I think we can be proud of our efforts: who would have thought we would finish 3rd in the Constructors’ Championship? I hope that next year, I’ll be able to fight for the world championship again.

Heikki Kovalainen – 11th:

I got off to a good start and managed to overtake a few cars. Unfortunately, the performance of my car was not as I would have liked, and the fuel load made it more difficult to make further progress. After my pit stop, the KERS stopped working, which meant I had to adapt the car to perform better. However, after this race, we can reflect on our season together and look at the great work we have done to secure third place in the constructors’ championship. I am proud to be part of the team that beat Ferrari in the world championship for the first time since 2005.

Martin Whitmarsh – Team Principal:

Lewis drove superbly all weekend – in fact, he has driven superbly all year. But today, there was wear on his right rear brake, and for safety reasons, we had to stop him. It’s really unfortunate. Speaking of the Constructors’ Championship, beating Ferrari is a source of pride for us, and I would like to pay tribute to everyone at Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes for their efforts. Ferrari will remain a formidable opponent, and we want to beat them next year, but not for 3rd place, for 1st!

Finally, I would like to say that the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is a wonderful event. We are all very eager to return next year.