News from Formula One in the Formation Lap.
Showing posts with label McLaren. Show all posts
Showing posts with label McLaren. Show all posts
Thursday, 22 July 2010
McLaren 'not behind' with development
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is adamant that his team has not fallen behind in the development race despite having to delay the introduction of the blown rear diffuser.
The British squad had a big update scheduled for the British Grand Prix, but was forced to remove the blown diffuser after hitting trouble with it during Friday's practice sessions.
Both qualifying and the race were dominated by Red Bull's drivers, with Mark Webber taking a commanding win ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
Although the team has been unable to race with the diffuser, Whitmarsh says McLaren is still very much on par with its rivals in terms of development.
"I'm not sure we've been behind in the development race - I think we've had a car that's been capable of winning races," said Whitmarsh on Tuesday during a phone-in. "You need to be reliable and quick enough to win races.
"I think we've had both of those things generally. It's always nice to be quicker, it's always nice to be more reliable, but I think we're in a reasonable position - but we know that we've got to continue to development the car if we're going to win the championships this year."
Despite the problems at Silverstone, Whitmarsh is optimistic that the device will be raced this weekend in Germany.
"You can't be entirely confident, but I think we go into Hockenheim with more information," he said. "We've made some modifications in the light of that data and we will be running the blown diffuser on Friday.
"I suspect we'll have it on for the weekend, but we'll make the call in the light of the data on Friday evening."
He also said that having one car with the diffuser and one without it was not possibility McLaren was considering at the moment.
"We're working at the moment on the premise that we'll have blown diffusers on both cars to start with," he added. "At Silverstone Lewis wanted to keep the blown diffuser on on Friday night, but we took the decision there to switch them both back to the older diffuser.
"If there was a preference from one side of the garage to the other - and if I can, we'll avoid that - we'll do it if we think it's the right way to perform during the course of that weekend.
"There are advantages, as you can imagine, to running one car in one configuration, one in the other - provided that in so doing, you don't end up, rightly or wrongly, accused of treating the two drivers differently."
Whitmarsh, whose team is leading both championships after the halfway point of the season, admitted it was still too early to write off teams like Ferrari from the championship fight, despite the lack of results from the Italian squad in recent races.
"I'd love to believe that, but experience has told me that you can't write them off. Ferrari are a strong team, they're technical capable, have fantastic resources and they've got one former world champion and one other top-flight driver and Mercedes-Benz similarly have got one former multiple world champion and a very good driver in Nico [Rosberg].
"So I think it's too early to write them off. We need to improve our car and do as good a job as we can do. Red Bull clearly are the principle challenge at the moment, but I don't dismiss the others."
Friday, 16 July 2010
McLaren: No room for complacency
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh insists his team cannot afford to be complacent despite the positive results of the last races.
Although McLaren has not had the quickest car of the field, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have consolidated their position at the top of the standings thanks to strong races in Valencia and Britain.
The team, however, was forced to remove its rear blown diffuser at Silverstone, something that was a hit to its chances of matching Red Bull.
And despite its strong championship situation, Whitmarsh reckons the team has made it clear it is not ready to rest on its laurels.
"We've come off an extremely successful run of recent races, but we're nonetheless under no illusions that we need to bring further performance to the MP4-25 if we are to remain at the forefront of this championship battle," said Whitmarsh in a team preview.
"I think Silverstone showed that we were in no mood to be complacent - either in our aggressive push to put upgrades on the car or our decision to remove them and put our faith in an older iteration of the car, despite a lack of running compared with our rivals."
Whitmarsh said the team has run extensive testing of the floor in the factory, but a decision on whether it will be used will only be taken after Friday practice at Hockenheim.
"Of course, that final validation will only come at the circuit," he said. "So we're looking at undertaking a major test programme on Friday at Hockenheim. This will involve both drivers running back-to-back evaluations with the T2 and T3 floors.
"And, if these prove positive, we'll then look at the deployment of the new floor for the remainder of the race weekend. But that's a decision we'll only make after a thorough analysis of the inherent risks and benefits."
World champion Button said he is aiming to raise his game in qualifying, after two difficult sessions in Valencia and Silverstone.
"After two disappointments in qualifying at Valencia and Silverstone, my aim for this weekend must be to make life easier for myself on Saturday afternoon, so that I can maximise my performance on Sunday without needing to play catch-up during the race," he said.
"This will be another busy weekend for all of us as we spend Friday working through the changes we've made to optimise the blown diffuser. Hopefully, we'll have a positive test and will be able to see the benefits of the upgrades in the race for the first time. I'm looking forward to it."
Although McLaren has not had the quickest car of the field, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have consolidated their position at the top of the standings thanks to strong races in Valencia and Britain.
The team, however, was forced to remove its rear blown diffuser at Silverstone, something that was a hit to its chances of matching Red Bull.
And despite its strong championship situation, Whitmarsh reckons the team has made it clear it is not ready to rest on its laurels.
"We've come off an extremely successful run of recent races, but we're nonetheless under no illusions that we need to bring further performance to the MP4-25 if we are to remain at the forefront of this championship battle," said Whitmarsh in a team preview.
"I think Silverstone showed that we were in no mood to be complacent - either in our aggressive push to put upgrades on the car or our decision to remove them and put our faith in an older iteration of the car, despite a lack of running compared with our rivals."
Whitmarsh said the team has run extensive testing of the floor in the factory, but a decision on whether it will be used will only be taken after Friday practice at Hockenheim.
"Of course, that final validation will only come at the circuit," he said. "So we're looking at undertaking a major test programme on Friday at Hockenheim. This will involve both drivers running back-to-back evaluations with the T2 and T3 floors.
"And, if these prove positive, we'll then look at the deployment of the new floor for the remainder of the race weekend. But that's a decision we'll only make after a thorough analysis of the inherent risks and benefits."
World champion Button said he is aiming to raise his game in qualifying, after two difficult sessions in Valencia and Silverstone.
"After two disappointments in qualifying at Valencia and Silverstone, my aim for this weekend must be to make life easier for myself on Saturday afternoon, so that I can maximise my performance on Sunday without needing to play catch-up during the race," he said.
"This will be another busy weekend for all of us as we spend Friday working through the changes we've made to optimise the blown diffuser. Hopefully, we'll have a positive test and will be able to see the benefits of the upgrades in the race for the first time. I'm looking forward to it."
Monday, 12 July 2010
McLaren optimistic over blown diffuser
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is optimistic that his team can get its blown diffuser working in time for it to be raced at the German Grand Prix.
The Woking-based team tried out its blown diffuser for the first time at Silverstone last weekend, but it was removed from the car on Friday night after the outfit struggled to find a good balance with it - and suffered from issues relating to the heat.
Work is now underway for another trial of the concept in practice at Hockenheim in a fortnight's time, and Whitmarsh hopes that the improvements will be good enough for it to remain on the car for the whole weekend.
"I'm quite optimistic now," he said. "Because of circumstance we took the blown diffuser off on Friday, and we got a free back-to-back because on Saturday we didn't have it.
"I was looking at the data and I think we now have some understanding of the issues, if not all, and we can devise some experiments. Hopefully we can make some progress on Friday in Hockenheim and then use it."
Whitmarsh admitted that it had been a bigger than expected task to get the blown diffuser on the car for the high-speed Silverstone circuit, but he thought the team had made the right decision with what it did.
"I think it was a big challenge," he said. "That could have been a mistake, but I'm glad we did it and I'm glad we took it off. I didn't feel like it on Friday night but now we have got a lot of good data."
He added: "Lewis will still say that he thought we should have raced it and, from the data, I think he's not wrong. Ultimately it was my decision and I think it was the right one.
"We were in a little bit of disarray on Friday, with a new circuit, gusty conditions and drivers uncomfortable. As a race team you take a decision like that, and to say: 'right, we are to concentrate on something different on each car', that would have confused us as well.
"I don't think we'd have had a much better result this weekend. We've got some good ideas now that will hopefully take us forward on Friday in Germany."
McLaren not relying on Red Bull fallout
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh says his team is not going to rely on Red Bull Racing getting ripped apart by its internal divisions - even though he thinks the favouritism row that has engulfed his title rivals is now an unwelcome distraction for the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
Red Bull Racing is facing a crunch few days to try and put a lid on the row that has erupted between Mark Webber and the team management over its decision to swap front wings on its cars before qualifying at the British Grand Prix.
That decision left Webber feeling he had been relegated to the number two driver position – and he claimed after his Silverstone victory that he would have never re-signed for the team for 2010 if he knew that was how he was going to be treated.
And with Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner insisting he has no regrets about the decisions he took at Silverstone – even though it has led to a huge backlash from the media and fans – rival teams have already suggested they can capitalise on the trouble.
Whitmarsh, whose team heads Red Bull Racing in both championships despite having not had the quickest car this year, said he hopes that the problems at Red Bull spiral out of control – but he made it clear he wasn't going to count on it.
"I don't know what's happening there," said Whitmarsh, after seeing Lewis Hamilton extend his lead in the world championship standings after the British Grand Prix.
"We have got to concentrate on our situation. A lot of people speculated on the relationship between our two drivers. And the fact is that it hasn't been a news story yet meant people tried to make it one.
"I hope there are cracks and divisions in all our competitors and they all fall apart, but I am not going to rely on it. We have got to make our car quicker and try and win the championships that way."
When asked if he felt that the internal problems at Red Bull Racing could prove to hurt the team's efforts on track, Whitmarsh said: "I think if your drivers aren't working together then it is one more distraction you could do without."
Whitmarsh reckoned that any decision that could leave one driver feeling as though he is being disadvantaged, such as the removal of parts to give to his team-mate, needed careful thought to consider the consequences.
"You have got to think carefully about decisions," he said. "Drivers are immensely competitive individuals. They wouldn't be doing that job otherwise, so if they perceive something that is not even-handed or fair, then you are going to have some trouble.
"There is always a potential tension with two drivers in the same team fighting for a championship. We've experienced that a few times, it's difficult, but I have to say that so far I think we are in reasonable shape in that regard."
Whitmarsh has close-hand experience of dealing with such driver tensions, when Fernando Alonso had a difficult time working with the outfit in 2007.
Looking back on the events of that season, which included the outfit getting dragged into a spy case, Whitmarsh openly admitted that the off-track situation cost it the world title.
"2007 was a tough year for all sorts of reasons," he said. "We had a competitive car, we were trying to win the world championship but ultimately we lost it by one point. Certainly the histrionics that went around, cost us that world championship, so we had to understand and respect that."
He added: "But I know the depth of this racing team. I think the combination of the drivers, a reasonable car and a strong team has enabled us to be leading both championships."
Saturday, 10 July 2010
Elated Hamilton hails 'best ever lap'
Lewis Hamilton says his final qualifying lap on Saturday was his best ever after securing a place on the second row of the grid for the British Grand Prix.
Hamilton and his McLaren team have been forced to remove their upgrade package from their car following yesterday's practice, and the team has struggled to match the pace of its main rivals.
The McLaren driver, however, put on a strong performance in Q3 and will start the race from fourth position, ten places ahead of team-mate Jenson Button.
A delighted Hamilton said it had been his best ever lap, and insisted the upgrade package just needs time before it works perfectly.
"Fourth is... I'm so happy with it, you can't believe it," said Hamilton. "I'm so proud of my team because we pushed so hard all year, but in the last couple of days they pushed longer and harder than ever to get this update package, which is an improvement, but we just were unable to work it.
"And unfortunately we had to take it off last night. We knew we were a long way off. The Red Bull is a second and a bit ahead and have three teams with the blown diffuser who were ahead of us, and it was really about getting the best last possible.
"I have to say for me this is the best lap I've ever had. And I think it's down to all the fans we have here. The support you have around this track is like nowhere else. British fans are the best by far."
And the Briton is adamant that a good result is still possible despite all of McLaren's problems during the weekend.
"I don't know how was I able to get so high up but I'm so, so happy," he added. "I think it's a great position for us.
"The race is not over. These guys are clearly faster than us but we can still get a great result tomorrow."
Hamilton and his McLaren team have been forced to remove their upgrade package from their car following yesterday's practice, and the team has struggled to match the pace of its main rivals.
The McLaren driver, however, put on a strong performance in Q3 and will start the race from fourth position, ten places ahead of team-mate Jenson Button.
A delighted Hamilton said it had been his best ever lap, and insisted the upgrade package just needs time before it works perfectly.
"Fourth is... I'm so happy with it, you can't believe it," said Hamilton. "I'm so proud of my team because we pushed so hard all year, but in the last couple of days they pushed longer and harder than ever to get this update package, which is an improvement, but we just were unable to work it.
"And unfortunately we had to take it off last night. We knew we were a long way off. The Red Bull is a second and a bit ahead and have three teams with the blown diffuser who were ahead of us, and it was really about getting the best last possible.
"I have to say for me this is the best lap I've ever had. And I think it's down to all the fans we have here. The support you have around this track is like nowhere else. British fans are the best by far."
And the Briton is adamant that a good result is still possible despite all of McLaren's problems during the weekend.
"I don't know how was I able to get so high up but I'm so, so happy," he added. "I think it's a great position for us.
"The race is not over. These guys are clearly faster than us but we can still get a great result tomorrow."
Button suspects car problem
Jenson Button is convinced that his McLaren developed a problem before Silverstone qualifying, having been baffled to find himself only 14th on the grid.
McLaren had not been on Red Bull's pace this weekend as its eagerly-awaited exhaust-blown diffuser did not pay off in practice and was removed late last night, but Button said he still expected much better than a seventh row spot.
"This morning the car felt really good," Button insisted. "I personally think there is something wrong - the car was undriveable this afternoon as soon as I jumped in it.
"I took so much front end out of it, five or six turns, which is 1.5 per cent, which is just wrong. We had this problem on Friday where we kept having to take front wing off to get the balance."
He said the problem was definitely something more than just the car's balance changing with the overnight change of specification.
"It hasn't got the blown diffuser, but this weekend it's been tricky for us - but that wasn't normal," Button said.
"This morning the car felt reasonably good, we have a new front wing which is working really well, but something felt very wrong then. I was getting on with the car this morning even if we didn't have much experience with the new setting."
Button added that postponing the full introduction of the new exhaust system was definitely the right move in his opinion - despite today's result.
"For now, there is a lot of work that needs doing on the upgrades to improve them," he said. "It would not have been right to run them here, so it was the right decision."
McLaren had not been on Red Bull's pace this weekend as its eagerly-awaited exhaust-blown diffuser did not pay off in practice and was removed late last night, but Button said he still expected much better than a seventh row spot.
"This morning the car felt really good," Button insisted. "I personally think there is something wrong - the car was undriveable this afternoon as soon as I jumped in it.
"I took so much front end out of it, five or six turns, which is 1.5 per cent, which is just wrong. We had this problem on Friday where we kept having to take front wing off to get the balance."
He said the problem was definitely something more than just the car's balance changing with the overnight change of specification.
"It hasn't got the blown diffuser, but this weekend it's been tricky for us - but that wasn't normal," Button said.
"This morning the car felt reasonably good, we have a new front wing which is working really well, but something felt very wrong then. I was getting on with the car this morning even if we didn't have much experience with the new setting."
Button added that postponing the full introduction of the new exhaust system was definitely the right move in his opinion - despite today's result.
"For now, there is a lot of work that needs doing on the upgrades to improve them," he said. "It would not have been right to run them here, so it was the right decision."
McLaren ditches blown diffuser for now
McLaren has abandoned its exhaust-blown diffuser for the rest of the British Grand Prix weekend, AUTOSPORT can reveal, after a difficult first day of running with the concept at Silverstone on Friday.
The Woking-based team had high hopes that the update package it brought on to the car for this weekend's race would help lift its performance to take the fight to pre-event favourites Red Bull Racing.
However, both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button failed to get comfortable with the new handling and set-up of the revised MP4-25 at Silverstone - with Hamilton running off-track several times as he took the car to the limit.
Button admitted that the car had not felt good with the new parts - and that the team needed to invest much more effort in making them work.
"Today's been a little bit trickier than expected in the car," said the reigning world champion.
"First of all I couldn't get a set-up for the car with the new package, but it improved at the end of the day, but there's still a lot of work we need to do. We are not where we'd like to be. The car is very tricky in a few places around the circuit.
"We've definitely made some improvements in certain places, but we don't have the right balance yet. I haven't had a perfect day today, which is disappointing because even on a Friday it's good to see so many people out there."
With Hamilton ending the day more than 1.5 seconds adrift of the best time from Red Bull Racing, McLaren felt that its chances of a decent result in the British GP would be best served with using the package it knows best.
Late on Friday night, McLaren mechanics were seen wheeling the updated floors out of the Silverstone paddock as work began on revising the cars back to the configuration that has been used up until this race - with the standard exhaust set-up.
Sources have revealed that McLaren understands where improvements can be made with the package, and revisions will be developed to ensure the exhaust-blown diffuser is back on the car for the German Grand Prix.
McLaren had come into the weekend viewing the British GP as a critical weekend in its title challenge - with the performance of the blown diffuser likely to give it a benchmark on its ability to take the fight to Red Bull Racing.
Although removing the blown diffuser is a setback for McLaren's hopes at Silverstone, the performance of the car in recent races means the outfit still has the chance of taking a decent haul of points with the older exhaust concept.
The exhaust-blown diffusers are far from straightforward to integrate into the cars, and Mercedes GP found it had to compromise its version of the design in Valencia a fortnight ago when it encountered overheating problems caused by the exhaust gases.
The Woking-based team had high hopes that the update package it brought on to the car for this weekend's race would help lift its performance to take the fight to pre-event favourites Red Bull Racing.
However, both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button failed to get comfortable with the new handling and set-up of the revised MP4-25 at Silverstone - with Hamilton running off-track several times as he took the car to the limit.
Button admitted that the car had not felt good with the new parts - and that the team needed to invest much more effort in making them work.
"Today's been a little bit trickier than expected in the car," said the reigning world champion.
"First of all I couldn't get a set-up for the car with the new package, but it improved at the end of the day, but there's still a lot of work we need to do. We are not where we'd like to be. The car is very tricky in a few places around the circuit.
"We've definitely made some improvements in certain places, but we don't have the right balance yet. I haven't had a perfect day today, which is disappointing because even on a Friday it's good to see so many people out there."
With Hamilton ending the day more than 1.5 seconds adrift of the best time from Red Bull Racing, McLaren felt that its chances of a decent result in the British GP would be best served with using the package it knows best.
Late on Friday night, McLaren mechanics were seen wheeling the updated floors out of the Silverstone paddock as work began on revising the cars back to the configuration that has been used up until this race - with the standard exhaust set-up.
Sources have revealed that McLaren understands where improvements can be made with the package, and revisions will be developed to ensure the exhaust-blown diffuser is back on the car for the German Grand Prix.
McLaren had come into the weekend viewing the British GP as a critical weekend in its title challenge - with the performance of the blown diffuser likely to give it a benchmark on its ability to take the fight to Red Bull Racing.
Although removing the blown diffuser is a setback for McLaren's hopes at Silverstone, the performance of the car in recent races means the outfit still has the chance of taking a decent haul of points with the older exhaust concept.
The exhaust-blown diffusers are far from straightforward to integrate into the cars, and Mercedes GP found it had to compromise its version of the design in Valencia a fortnight ago when it encountered overheating problems caused by the exhaust gases.
Hamilton calm over McLaren updates
Lewis Hamilton is staying calm about the performance of his McLaren team despite a difficult first day of work ahead of the British Grand Prix.
McLaren has introduced a big upgrade package that it hopes will help close the gap to rival Red Bull in terms of performance.
However, Red Bull dominated today's practice sessions at Silverstone, with Hamilton finishing down in eighth, over 1.5 second off pace-setter Mark Webber.
The Briton said nonetheless that he felt the updates were a step forward and he is expecting things to be much closer on Saturday.
"I definitely feel we've made a step forward from Valencia," Hamilton said after practice. "This is a track a bit like Barcelona, where you'd see nearly a second gap between ourselves and Red Bull.
"I don't think we will be seeing that gap. I think tomorrow will be a lot closer. If we get the car set up right then we should have no problems."
He added: "We put on the new components and I was quite excited this morning and the feeling of the car was quite positive. I was actually surprised about the pace that we had this morning. We made some changes and set-up wise they didn't make the car better, but sometimes you find that's the case.
"So we are going to go back to the set-up we had before and start from there again and hopefully tomorrow the set-up will be better. But generally I think the performance of the car is good."
Team-mate Jenson Button admitted he was disappointed with his day after struggling with the handling of the car.
"Today's been a little bit trickier than expected in the car," said Button, 13th quickest. "First of all I couldn't get a set-up for the car with the new package, but it improved at the end of the day, but there's still a lot of work we need to do. We are not where we'd like to be. The car is very tricky in a few places around the circuit.
"We've definitely made some improvements in certain places, but we don't have the right balance yet. I haven't had a perfect day today, which is disappointing because even on a Friday it's good to see so many people out there."
Team boss Martin Whitmarsh said the day had been hard for McLaren, but insisted the team needs time to make all the updates work.
"It was a difficult day for us," he said. "We're exploring the car. I wouldn't say that for a lot of the time the drivers were that comfortable today but we were learning and we will take that data and see what we can do with it this evening.
"The issue us, often when you are developing the car you are incrementally bringing downforce to the car so the balance of the car and the set-up characteristics don't change dramatically. With the changes that we are evolving on the cars, it requires perhaps a different approach, a different driving style, different setups.
"In the era when there is not much testing, that's quite difficult to nail with a limited number of tyres and laps to do it in. That's the modern era of F1 and we've got to take all of the data that we've got today, make some decision of what we've got to do and hopefully get it right.
"Parts were still arriving at 1:30 this morning. There are a lot of new components on the car and people have worked incredibly long hours day and night just to get those bits here. It's a big effort. We had a number of different parts on the car today and we've got to make sure that we've got the best package that we can provide to our drivers tomorrow."
McLaren has introduced a big upgrade package that it hopes will help close the gap to rival Red Bull in terms of performance.
However, Red Bull dominated today's practice sessions at Silverstone, with Hamilton finishing down in eighth, over 1.5 second off pace-setter Mark Webber.
The Briton said nonetheless that he felt the updates were a step forward and he is expecting things to be much closer on Saturday.
"I definitely feel we've made a step forward from Valencia," Hamilton said after practice. "This is a track a bit like Barcelona, where you'd see nearly a second gap between ourselves and Red Bull.
"I don't think we will be seeing that gap. I think tomorrow will be a lot closer. If we get the car set up right then we should have no problems."
He added: "We put on the new components and I was quite excited this morning and the feeling of the car was quite positive. I was actually surprised about the pace that we had this morning. We made some changes and set-up wise they didn't make the car better, but sometimes you find that's the case.
"So we are going to go back to the set-up we had before and start from there again and hopefully tomorrow the set-up will be better. But generally I think the performance of the car is good."
Team-mate Jenson Button admitted he was disappointed with his day after struggling with the handling of the car.
"Today's been a little bit trickier than expected in the car," said Button, 13th quickest. "First of all I couldn't get a set-up for the car with the new package, but it improved at the end of the day, but there's still a lot of work we need to do. We are not where we'd like to be. The car is very tricky in a few places around the circuit.
"We've definitely made some improvements in certain places, but we don't have the right balance yet. I haven't had a perfect day today, which is disappointing because even on a Friday it's good to see so many people out there."
Team boss Martin Whitmarsh said the day had been hard for McLaren, but insisted the team needs time to make all the updates work.
"It was a difficult day for us," he said. "We're exploring the car. I wouldn't say that for a lot of the time the drivers were that comfortable today but we were learning and we will take that data and see what we can do with it this evening.
"The issue us, often when you are developing the car you are incrementally bringing downforce to the car so the balance of the car and the set-up characteristics don't change dramatically. With the changes that we are evolving on the cars, it requires perhaps a different approach, a different driving style, different setups.
"In the era when there is not much testing, that's quite difficult to nail with a limited number of tyres and laps to do it in. That's the modern era of F1 and we've got to take all of the data that we've got today, make some decision of what we've got to do and hopefully get it right.
"Parts were still arriving at 1:30 this morning. There are a lot of new components on the car and people have worked incredibly long hours day and night just to get those bits here. It's a big effort. We had a number of different parts on the car today and we've got to make sure that we've got the best package that we can provide to our drivers tomorrow."
Thursday, 8 July 2010
McLaren unsure how upgrade will fare
McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale says the team cannot be certain if its upgrade package will deliver the desired results at Silverstone this weekend, and that practice performance will decide whether the blown diffuser is kept on for the race.
The team carried out a straightline test in Spain with the new package last weekend, but Neale admitted that the outcome was inconclusive and that the focus had been on reliability.
"Like all tests, I would describe it as a curate's egg," he said during this week's Vodafone McLaren Mercedes phone-in. "Some bits went very well, some bits gave us some surprises.
"Of course it's straightline testing so it's not like a full test in the conventional sense as we used to get mid-season and do during the winter.
"Because of the limited time and limited mileage that we had, we weren't able to do a full set of old car/new car running, so we just gathered as much data as we could, went through all of the race prove-outs, so we know if the car will run sensibly behind the safety car, can we do an aborted grid start, will it look after itself in pitstops? So we mainly focused on the durability aspect as well as straightline performance measuring.
"I'm confident that we've got a reasonable performance step. Do I think we've got everything that we expected? Hard to tell at this stage, I'll wait to see what the race drivers think. So Friday will be a testing day for us."
When asked by AUTOSPORT whether removing the package after Friday practice at Silverstone was an option, Neale replied: "Yeah and I think that's something that all the teams are increasingly doing.
"You've seen a number of teams with complex projects, like blown diffusers or the F-duct for example, which are not just paper exercises - there's a lot of installation issues that you have to simultaneously work. That requires track time to get right, and I heard one of my colleagues in another team describe the F-duct as the 'F-ing duct' because it does take time to get these things right.
"We are ambitious, we'd like to take it this weekend and if the drivers think it's good it will stay on and we'll run it. If not, we'll continue to develop it."
Neale said that McLaren had accelerated its development plans in response to the level of upgrades other teams had recently introduced - but that change of plan meant the team was in a race against time to prepare for Silverstone.
"We did try to pull forward a variety of packages that we had planned through to Germany," he confirmed. "So at the moment I've got a range of things that I'd like to get to the circuit on Friday that we haven't built yet. So we're in that sort of fire-fight between now and Friday - just how much can we get there?"
He also played down the significance of the blown diffuser - the most notable element of the Silverstone upgrade - agreeing with recent suggestions from Red Bull's Christian Horner that the device's contribution to performance had been over-estimated.
"In Formula 1 it's rare that there are golden bullets that suddenly transform your car from uncompetitive to competitive. We, more than most, last year found that to be the case. It was just straightforward hard work and effort," said Neale.
"It's early days in development, but I would tend to agree with Christian that it's not a case of bolt on your blown diffuser and then blow everybody into the weeds. That's not going to happen. It's one of the things that we are working with at the moment, as part of a package of changes that we are bringing to both the next race and subsequent races.
"In terms of predicting what it will do, I'm not going to be a hostage to fortune and predict a number of wins. Let's see what the race drivers think of it on Friday. We just haven't got any what I would call real circuit running on it at the moment, so I'm going to reserve judgement."
The team carried out a straightline test in Spain with the new package last weekend, but Neale admitted that the outcome was inconclusive and that the focus had been on reliability.
"Like all tests, I would describe it as a curate's egg," he said during this week's Vodafone McLaren Mercedes phone-in. "Some bits went very well, some bits gave us some surprises.
"Of course it's straightline testing so it's not like a full test in the conventional sense as we used to get mid-season and do during the winter.
"Because of the limited time and limited mileage that we had, we weren't able to do a full set of old car/new car running, so we just gathered as much data as we could, went through all of the race prove-outs, so we know if the car will run sensibly behind the safety car, can we do an aborted grid start, will it look after itself in pitstops? So we mainly focused on the durability aspect as well as straightline performance measuring.
"I'm confident that we've got a reasonable performance step. Do I think we've got everything that we expected? Hard to tell at this stage, I'll wait to see what the race drivers think. So Friday will be a testing day for us."
When asked by AUTOSPORT whether removing the package after Friday practice at Silverstone was an option, Neale replied: "Yeah and I think that's something that all the teams are increasingly doing.
"You've seen a number of teams with complex projects, like blown diffusers or the F-duct for example, which are not just paper exercises - there's a lot of installation issues that you have to simultaneously work. That requires track time to get right, and I heard one of my colleagues in another team describe the F-duct as the 'F-ing duct' because it does take time to get these things right.
"We are ambitious, we'd like to take it this weekend and if the drivers think it's good it will stay on and we'll run it. If not, we'll continue to develop it."
Neale said that McLaren had accelerated its development plans in response to the level of upgrades other teams had recently introduced - but that change of plan meant the team was in a race against time to prepare for Silverstone.
"We did try to pull forward a variety of packages that we had planned through to Germany," he confirmed. "So at the moment I've got a range of things that I'd like to get to the circuit on Friday that we haven't built yet. So we're in that sort of fire-fight between now and Friday - just how much can we get there?"
He also played down the significance of the blown diffuser - the most notable element of the Silverstone upgrade - agreeing with recent suggestions from Red Bull's Christian Horner that the device's contribution to performance had been over-estimated.
"In Formula 1 it's rare that there are golden bullets that suddenly transform your car from uncompetitive to competitive. We, more than most, last year found that to be the case. It was just straightforward hard work and effort," said Neale.
"It's early days in development, but I would tend to agree with Christian that it's not a case of bolt on your blown diffuser and then blow everybody into the weeds. That's not going to happen. It's one of the things that we are working with at the moment, as part of a package of changes that we are bringing to both the next race and subsequent races.
"In terms of predicting what it will do, I'm not going to be a hostage to fortune and predict a number of wins. Let's see what the race drivers think of it on Friday. We just haven't got any what I would call real circuit running on it at the moment, so I'm going to reserve judgement."
Monday, 26 April 2010
McLaren not satisified with MP4-25 speed
Martin Whitmarsh insists that McLaren cannot be satisfied with the speed of its car, despite leading the world championship standings heading into the start of the European season.
Although the Woking-based outfit has made the most of the opportunities that have come its way in the first four races, with Jenson Button's two victories helping him lead the drivers' standings, team principal Whitmarsh thinks there is plenty of work to do to extract more pace from the MP4-25.
"There is no secret that we will keep pushing," said Whitmarsh, who is well aware that Red Bull has secured pole position at every race so far.
"We have a new package that we are bringing for Barcelona and for every race we have demonstrated over the years that we can improve the car, race on race, and that is what we have got to do.
"All the teams will be doing that and we just have to do it at a quicker rate. We are closer than we have been, we are not satisfied with the car, and we have to improve it and have to make it quicker."
Whitmarsh also admitted that his team was left slightly frustrated by the way Formula 1's ride-height control controversy panned out - having been given the go-ahead to develop its own version prior to the FIA outlawing it after the Malaysian Grand Prix.
"It was understood some time ago by previous rulings that you could not have specific parts that move in relation to the sprung mass which have influence on the aerodynamics of the car," he said.
"From that we were given that you could not have parts in the suspension system that moved the ride height, but we sensed that maybe some teams were taking advantage of that capability, quite possibility legitimately. We enquired with the FIA and we were surprised when we were told that such systems were legal.
"On the basis of that, we started to develop such systems and we intended to have such a system in China. Then, before the race, we were told that the FIA had reconsidered that position and that such systems were no longer legal - so we had wasted a bit of time.
"We are not trying to be critical of the FIA, because in fairness Charlie [Whiting] and the FIA have 12 teams diligently pestering them trying to get rulings, twists and turns in the regulations and interpretations, but I was surprised when we had a positive ruling, and delighted because we are about creative engineering and we enjoy those sort of challenges.
"So it was shame we could not introduce it, it would have given us a little bit of an advantage but we couldn't do it, so we move on. That is the nature of it. The FIA has to make difficult decisions. It can always do things better, but it would have been nice if we had had a clear no at the outset but we didn't."
Despite being forced to abandon its suspension plans, Whitmarsh says there is still plenty of scope for McLaren to bring more pace to its current car.
"We can generate more downforce, we can bring on more aerodynamic efficiency, we can make is less sensitive, we can make it lighter, we can do all those things. That is our job and that is what we enjoy chasing and pursuing.
"If every now and again the regulations throw up an unexpected opportunity, we will jump on it. This [ride-height affair] momentarily threw one up, we jumped on it but ultimately couldn't exploit it."
Although the Woking-based outfit has made the most of the opportunities that have come its way in the first four races, with Jenson Button's two victories helping him lead the drivers' standings, team principal Whitmarsh thinks there is plenty of work to do to extract more pace from the MP4-25.
"There is no secret that we will keep pushing," said Whitmarsh, who is well aware that Red Bull has secured pole position at every race so far.
"We have a new package that we are bringing for Barcelona and for every race we have demonstrated over the years that we can improve the car, race on race, and that is what we have got to do.
"All the teams will be doing that and we just have to do it at a quicker rate. We are closer than we have been, we are not satisfied with the car, and we have to improve it and have to make it quicker."
Whitmarsh also admitted that his team was left slightly frustrated by the way Formula 1's ride-height control controversy panned out - having been given the go-ahead to develop its own version prior to the FIA outlawing it after the Malaysian Grand Prix.
"It was understood some time ago by previous rulings that you could not have specific parts that move in relation to the sprung mass which have influence on the aerodynamics of the car," he said.
"From that we were given that you could not have parts in the suspension system that moved the ride height, but we sensed that maybe some teams were taking advantage of that capability, quite possibility legitimately. We enquired with the FIA and we were surprised when we were told that such systems were legal.
"On the basis of that, we started to develop such systems and we intended to have such a system in China. Then, before the race, we were told that the FIA had reconsidered that position and that such systems were no longer legal - so we had wasted a bit of time.
"We are not trying to be critical of the FIA, because in fairness Charlie [Whiting] and the FIA have 12 teams diligently pestering them trying to get rulings, twists and turns in the regulations and interpretations, but I was surprised when we had a positive ruling, and delighted because we are about creative engineering and we enjoy those sort of challenges.
"So it was shame we could not introduce it, it would have given us a little bit of an advantage but we couldn't do it, so we move on. That is the nature of it. The FIA has to make difficult decisions. It can always do things better, but it would have been nice if we had had a clear no at the outset but we didn't."
Despite being forced to abandon its suspension plans, Whitmarsh says there is still plenty of scope for McLaren to bring more pace to its current car.
"We can generate more downforce, we can bring on more aerodynamic efficiency, we can make is less sensitive, we can make it lighter, we can do all those things. That is our job and that is what we enjoy chasing and pursuing.
"If every now and again the regulations throw up an unexpected opportunity, we will jump on it. This [ride-height affair] momentarily threw one up, we jumped on it but ultimately couldn't exploit it."
Monday, 19 April 2010
Lapthorne steps down from McLaren
Richard Lapthorne has left McLaren just a year after he was appointed non-executive chairman of the group.
Lapthorne joined McLaren in April last year when Ron Dennis decided to relinquish his Formula 1 duties.
At the time, Lapthorne was appointed non-executive chairman of the McLaren Group and a non-executive director of McLaren Automotive.
After just one year, Lapthorne said his job is done.
"We had a full list of issues last April," he was quoted as saying by the Times newspaper. "Ron and the team have been brilliant in working through them and with the road car company poised for a spin-off, my job's done."
Lapthorne joined McLaren in April last year when Ron Dennis decided to relinquish his Formula 1 duties.
At the time, Lapthorne was appointed non-executive chairman of the McLaren Group and a non-executive director of McLaren Automotive.
After just one year, Lapthorne said his job is done.
"We had a full list of issues last April," he was quoted as saying by the Times newspaper. "Ron and the team have been brilliant in working through them and with the road car company poised for a spin-off, my job's done."
Saturday, 17 April 2010
Whitmarsh defends Hamilton weave
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has jumped to the defence of driver Lewis Hamilton amid criticism about the former world champions weaving in the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Hamilton weaved several times down the start-finish straight at Sepang as he tried to break the slipstream from a pursuing Vitaly Petrov, whom he had been battling with for several laps.
And although Hamilton was given no penalty for the move, with the stewards just giving him a warning for unsportsmanlike behaviour, several rivals have said they are unhappy about what he did.
However, Whitmarsh insists that Hamilton did absolutely nothing wrong and that his driver would never race in a dangerous manner.
"The stewards looked at this and decided not to penalise Lewis," said Whitmarsh in China. "Lewis was seeking to break the tow, not prevent an overtaking move. As always Lewis drives and races passionately, but always seeks to be entirely safe."
The matter is likely to be brought up in Fridays drivers briefing in China, however, with Williams driver Rubens Barrichello expressing his own disappointment about what happened.
"I don't think this is the right thing to do," said Barrichello in China on Thursday. "When I saw it, I was by myself watching the TV and I was quite critical of it. If he was beside me I would have given him some bollocking because it wasn't right."
Hamilton weaved several times down the start-finish straight at Sepang as he tried to break the slipstream from a pursuing Vitaly Petrov, whom he had been battling with for several laps.
And although Hamilton was given no penalty for the move, with the stewards just giving him a warning for unsportsmanlike behaviour, several rivals have said they are unhappy about what he did.
However, Whitmarsh insists that Hamilton did absolutely nothing wrong and that his driver would never race in a dangerous manner.
"The stewards looked at this and decided not to penalise Lewis," said Whitmarsh in China. "Lewis was seeking to break the tow, not prevent an overtaking move. As always Lewis drives and races passionately, but always seeks to be entirely safe."
The matter is likely to be brought up in Fridays drivers briefing in China, however, with Williams driver Rubens Barrichello expressing his own disappointment about what happened.
"I don't think this is the right thing to do," said Barrichello in China on Thursday. "When I saw it, I was by myself watching the TV and I was quite critical of it. If he was beside me I would have given him some bollocking because it wasn't right."
Saturday, 3 April 2010
McLaren duo rue wrong qualifying call
McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were left lamenting their mistake after being knocked out in Q1 for the Malaysian Grand Prix.
The duo waited to go out and set a time, hoping that conditions would improve after heavy rain had hit the track.
However, conditions only worsened and by the ttime they set a timed lap, the circuit was too wet to reach Q2.
Hamilton admitted McLaren's had been the wrong call.
"I think we started a bit too late, but we went out at a similar times to all the other top teams, but it was just unlucky," he said.
"It's one of those things. We had been fastest all weekend and then it's just so my luck, but what can you do? You just have to shrug it off and tomorrow I'll race my heart out again."
He added: "It was one of those days. It's been a good weekend so far, but we didn't expect it to rain anymore and it got wetter and wetter and couldn't get the time, so. Hard work tomorrow, for sure but I'll do my best."
Hamilton will start from 20th position, three places behind Button, whose session ended when he lost control of his car and got stuck in the gravel.
"We read it wrong, basically," Button said. "We thought nothing else was coming so we waited and it was obviously the wrong thing to do.
"My first lap on inters felt okay. It was quite wet but it felt okay. I just aquaplaned off, really. I couldn't do anything about it. I was stuck in the gravel. I hope I haven't damaged anything because I was stuck in the gravel with the engine running for quite a long time hoping to get pulled out, but that wasn't the case.
"Very disappointing, and a very strange session with both McLarens out and both Ferraris out."
The world champion at lest found some consolation in the fact that both Hamilton and the Ferrari drivers had qualified behind him.
"On the way back you feel pretty awful having gone off the circuit, but I'm in front of my championship rivals. I suppose that's the best way of looking at it. But I'm behind all other rivals which is a tough one. We made the wrong call and paid for it. Hopefully we'll make up for it tomorrow."
The duo waited to go out and set a time, hoping that conditions would improve after heavy rain had hit the track.
However, conditions only worsened and by the ttime they set a timed lap, the circuit was too wet to reach Q2.
Hamilton admitted McLaren's had been the wrong call.
"I think we started a bit too late, but we went out at a similar times to all the other top teams, but it was just unlucky," he said.
"It's one of those things. We had been fastest all weekend and then it's just so my luck, but what can you do? You just have to shrug it off and tomorrow I'll race my heart out again."
He added: "It was one of those days. It's been a good weekend so far, but we didn't expect it to rain anymore and it got wetter and wetter and couldn't get the time, so. Hard work tomorrow, for sure but I'll do my best."
Hamilton will start from 20th position, three places behind Button, whose session ended when he lost control of his car and got stuck in the gravel.
"We read it wrong, basically," Button said. "We thought nothing else was coming so we waited and it was obviously the wrong thing to do.
"My first lap on inters felt okay. It was quite wet but it felt okay. I just aquaplaned off, really. I couldn't do anything about it. I was stuck in the gravel. I hope I haven't damaged anything because I was stuck in the gravel with the engine running for quite a long time hoping to get pulled out, but that wasn't the case.
"Very disappointing, and a very strange session with both McLarens out and both Ferraris out."
The world champion at lest found some consolation in the fact that both Hamilton and the Ferrari drivers had qualified behind him.
"On the way back you feel pretty awful having gone off the circuit, but I'm in front of my championship rivals. I suppose that's the best way of looking at it. But I'm behind all other rivals which is a tough one. We made the wrong call and paid for it. Hopefully we'll make up for it tomorrow."
Friday, 2 April 2010
Hamilton leads opening Sepang practice
Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in opening practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix, but a last gap run to second by Mercedes' Nico Rosberg denied McLaren a likely one-two in the sesssion.
After a low-key opening to the morning, with the small teams monopolising the early track time, McLaren's Hamilton and Jenson Button moved into first and second around the session's halfway mark, before - like most of its rivals - focusing on heavier fuel runs later in the morning.
Their positions looked set going into the closing moments, until Rosberg slipped through with a lap 0.185 seconds off Hamilton's pace just after the chequered flag to split the McLarens.
Michael Schumacher was fourth in the second Mercedes. The former champion did not set a flying lap at all until just over the one hour mark while Mercedes worked on the rear of his car, but once on track Schumacher was rapid and quickly worked his way up to third, which became fourth when Rosberg jumped up the order.
Renault's Robert Kubica briefly led the way prior to the McLarens' mid-session surge and ended up fifth, ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber, Force India's Adrian Sutil, and championship leader Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) in eighth.
Sebastian Vettel was only ninth for Red Bull, and at one stage reported issues with slowing the car down. But he did set the fastest sector two time of the morning on his in-lap after the flag. Sebastien Buemi completed the top ten for Toro Rosso.
Felipe Massa made two trips through the gravel and was 11th for Ferrari. Also in trouble were Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari, who lost time to an electrical problem but recovered to 13th after repairs, and Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa. Like Massa, the Spaniard skittered through the Turn 12 gravel at speed but rejoined without damage.
Lotus test driver Fairuz Fauzy did a solid job on his first appearance in a GP weekend session. The Malaysian had a half-spin and brief trip over the grass, but was within half a second of team-mate Jarno Trulli until the Italian improved late on, and ultimately took 22nd. Force India's Paul di Resta, the other reserve driver in action, was 15th.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:34.921 19
2. Rosberg Mercedes 1:35.106 + 0.185 19
3. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.207 + 0.286 25
4. Schumacher Mercedes 1:35.225 + 0.304 14
5. Kubica Renault 1:35.402 + 0.481 22
6. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:35.479 + 0.558 22
7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:35.955 + 1.034 20
8. Alonso Ferrari 1:35.959 + 1.038 20
9. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:35.043 + 1.122 19
10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.100 + 1.179 20
11. Massa Ferrari 1:36.451 + 1.530 22
12. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.503 + 1.582 28
13. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.645 + 1.724 18
14. Petrov Renault 1:36.712 + 1.791 9
15. di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:36.891 + 1.970 25
16. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.899 + 1.978 24
17. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:37.802 + 2.881 27
18. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:38.278 + 3.357 18
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:39.460 + 4.539 21
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:39.755 + 4.834 17
21. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:40.159 + 5.238 25
22. Fauzy Lotus-Cosworth 1:40.721 + 5.800 19
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:41.832 + 6.911 27
24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:41.966 + 7.045 24
All Timing Unofficial
After a low-key opening to the morning, with the small teams monopolising the early track time, McLaren's Hamilton and Jenson Button moved into first and second around the session's halfway mark, before - like most of its rivals - focusing on heavier fuel runs later in the morning.
Their positions looked set going into the closing moments, until Rosberg slipped through with a lap 0.185 seconds off Hamilton's pace just after the chequered flag to split the McLarens.
Michael Schumacher was fourth in the second Mercedes. The former champion did not set a flying lap at all until just over the one hour mark while Mercedes worked on the rear of his car, but once on track Schumacher was rapid and quickly worked his way up to third, which became fourth when Rosberg jumped up the order.
Renault's Robert Kubica briefly led the way prior to the McLarens' mid-session surge and ended up fifth, ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber, Force India's Adrian Sutil, and championship leader Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) in eighth.
Sebastian Vettel was only ninth for Red Bull, and at one stage reported issues with slowing the car down. But he did set the fastest sector two time of the morning on his in-lap after the flag. Sebastien Buemi completed the top ten for Toro Rosso.
Felipe Massa made two trips through the gravel and was 11th for Ferrari. Also in trouble were Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari, who lost time to an electrical problem but recovered to 13th after repairs, and Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa. Like Massa, the Spaniard skittered through the Turn 12 gravel at speed but rejoined without damage.
Lotus test driver Fairuz Fauzy did a solid job on his first appearance in a GP weekend session. The Malaysian had a half-spin and brief trip over the grass, but was within half a second of team-mate Jarno Trulli until the Italian improved late on, and ultimately took 22nd. Force India's Paul di Resta, the other reserve driver in action, was 15th.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:34.921 19
2. Rosberg Mercedes 1:35.106 + 0.185 19
3. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.207 + 0.286 25
4. Schumacher Mercedes 1:35.225 + 0.304 14
5. Kubica Renault 1:35.402 + 0.481 22
6. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:35.479 + 0.558 22
7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:35.955 + 1.034 20
8. Alonso Ferrari 1:35.959 + 1.038 20
9. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:35.043 + 1.122 19
10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.100 + 1.179 20
11. Massa Ferrari 1:36.451 + 1.530 22
12. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.503 + 1.582 28
13. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.645 + 1.724 18
14. Petrov Renault 1:36.712 + 1.791 9
15. di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:36.891 + 1.970 25
16. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:36.899 + 1.978 24
17. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:37.802 + 2.881 27
18. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:38.278 + 3.357 18
19. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:39.460 + 4.539 21
20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:39.755 + 4.834 17
21. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:40.159 + 5.238 25
22. Fauzy Lotus-Cosworth 1:40.721 + 5.800 19
23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:41.832 + 6.911 27
24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:41.966 + 7.045 24
All Timing Unofficial
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Button takes first win with McLaren
Jenson Button claimed his first victory for McLaren with a brilliant drive and a perfect tyre strategy in a thrilling Australian Grand Prix.
The reigning world champion's bold early switch to dry tyres in a race that began damp put him in position to inherit the lead when a brake failure pitched Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) into the gravel and out of a race he had hitherto controlled.
Robert Kubica claimed a superb second for Renault, fending off Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso's Ferraris, and Nico Rosberg's Mercedes in a tense finale as the top four finishers nursed their tyres to the end while their pursuers took on fresh rubber at half-distance. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and Mark Webber (Red Bull) had been in the thick of this fight too until a late tangle.
In contrast to the lacklustre Sakhir race, Melbourne delivered thrills and spills from the outside, with the race commencing on a damp track.
As the field slithered through Turn 1 for the first time, contact between the slow-starting Alonso and Button sent the Ferrari spinning into Michael Schumacher's Mercedes, breaking its front wing, with Hamilton jinking over the grass in avoidance.
Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi then arrived at the kink before Turn 6 already missing his front wing from a previous incident, and speared into the inside wall before sledging back across the track and violently collecting both Sebastien Buemi's Toro Rosso and Nico Hulkenberg's Williams mid-corner. That inevitably prompted a safety car.
The Red Bulls had been split into the first corner by Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who made a superb start from fifth on the grid. But Red Bull formation was resumed two laps after the restart, as Webber slipped past the Brazilian into Turn 6 and left him to try and fend off Kubica and Rosberg.
The McLarens had ended up sixth and seventh once the first corner mess unfolded, with Button in front until Hamilton dived past him into Turn 3 on lap six. Button then decided the track was ready for slicks and pitted.
This looked like an over-bold move when he skittered over the gravel at Turn 3 on his out-lap - but fastest sector times around the rest of the lap proved Button's gamble was wise.
Soon the whole field was following Button's example, although the two Red Bulls stayed out longer than most as the team expected more rain. Ultimately only light drizzle came, and the leaders belatedly went for slicks as well.
That tactic still succeeded for Vettel, who rejoined from his stop just ahead of the flying Button, who had vaulted to second thanks to his brave early tyre switch, but Webber stayed out until lap 10, losing out to Kubica and Rosberg - and then Massa too as he went over the grass at Turn 1 as he rejoined.
Vettel soon started edging away from Button, with Kubica and Rosberg dropping back from the two leaders. Behind them, some epic racing was underway, mostly involving drivers trying to get around Massa.
Webber surged down the inside of the Ferrari into Turn 1 on lap 15, with Hamilton immediately following him through and then attacking the Red Bull into Turn 3 - where both went wide, with Webber going right over the gravel. That allowed Massa back ahead of Hamilton, while by the time Webber regained the asphalt the charging Alonso had also gone through, the Bahrain winner having rapidly hacked through the midfield following his first lap spin.
Six laps later Hamilton successfully passed Massa for fifth into Turn 1, despite the Ferrari's best defensive efforts, with Alonso trying to do likewise into Turn 3, only to get hung out on the still-damp extremes of the track and lose a place to Webber again.
Once free of Massa, Hamilton charged straight onto Rosberg's tail and took fourth from the Mercedes with an incredible move around the outside into the sixth gear Turn 11. That cost the McLaren momentum onto the next straight and Rosberg looked set to repass into Turn 13 - but had to back off for yellow flags as moments earlier race leader Vettel had slid into the gravel as his Red Bull suffered a brake failure.
That denied Vettel a near-certain victory, and while the disconsolate German trudged back to the pits, Button found himself in the lead by 6s over Kubica, who soon had Hamilton all over the back of him, while behind them Webber made it past Massa with an outside line move at Turn 3. Alonso, however, would not get past his team-mate so easily, remaining trapped behind Massa for lap after lap.
By half-distance many drivers were struggling with wear on the soft tyres they had taken once the track dried, and after an initial slew of midfield pitstops, Hamilton, Rosberg and Webber all decided they needed fresh rubber too.
Webber was the first of the leaders to pit on lap 31, and managed to get around Rosberg through Turns 2 and 3 as the Mercedes rejoined after its stop a lap later. Hamilton waited two laps longer and stayed ahead of the now-flying Webber, despite a scare at Turn 13 when he took to the grass but was able to muscle back in front of the Red Bull at Turn 14 as it too slid wide.
Button had no concerns about tyre wear and continued to pull away from Kubica, who now had both Ferraris hounding him, while half a minute behind Button, Hamilton, Webber and Rosberg made the most of their fresher tyres to start taking 1-2s per lap out of the leaders.
With eight laps to go, Kubica, Massa, Alonso, Hamilton and Webber were nose to tail in second to sixth places, with Rosberg gaining on the queue as well. Hamilton's tyres went off again in the Ferraris' dirty air, but he still got alongside Alonso into Turn 13 two laps from the end. As Alonso kept Hamilton to the outside, Webber hit the back of the McLaren under braking, smashing the Red Bull's front wing and spinning Hamilton through the gravel. The latter rejoined in sixth, with Webber falling to ninth.
Button stayed comfortably clear of this mayhem, masterfully keeping his tyres in shape and cruising to victory with a 12s margin over Kubica.
Although Adrian Sutil was an early retirement, Tonio Liuzzi scored again for Force India in seventh, passing Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa mid-race and then gaining another place when Rubens Barrichello decided to pit for new tyres and dropped from eighth to 10th. He then inherited seventh thanks to the Hamilton/Webber tangle.
Barrichello fought back to reclaim ninth from de la Rosa and was elevated another place thanks to Webber's stop.
Schumacher never really recovered from his first lap delay, spending the majority of the afternoon trapped behind Jaime Alguersuari's Toro Rosso. Although he eventually overtook the young Spaniard, they would swap places again when both pitted for tyres and had to muscle back past the Toro Rosso in the closing stages. Both then passed the struggling de la Rosa, allowing Schumacher to at least salvage a point.
Heikki Kovalainen got to the finish for Lotus in 13th, with Karun Chandhok also going the distance for Hispania in 14th. The other new team cars all retired - Lotus's Jarno Trulli not even making the start due to hydraulic problems. Renault's Vitaly Petrov was the other retirement, spinning into the gravel on lap nine.
The reigning world champion's bold early switch to dry tyres in a race that began damp put him in position to inherit the lead when a brake failure pitched Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) into the gravel and out of a race he had hitherto controlled.
Robert Kubica claimed a superb second for Renault, fending off Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso's Ferraris, and Nico Rosberg's Mercedes in a tense finale as the top four finishers nursed their tyres to the end while their pursuers took on fresh rubber at half-distance. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and Mark Webber (Red Bull) had been in the thick of this fight too until a late tangle.
In contrast to the lacklustre Sakhir race, Melbourne delivered thrills and spills from the outside, with the race commencing on a damp track.
As the field slithered through Turn 1 for the first time, contact between the slow-starting Alonso and Button sent the Ferrari spinning into Michael Schumacher's Mercedes, breaking its front wing, with Hamilton jinking over the grass in avoidance.
Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi then arrived at the kink before Turn 6 already missing his front wing from a previous incident, and speared into the inside wall before sledging back across the track and violently collecting both Sebastien Buemi's Toro Rosso and Nico Hulkenberg's Williams mid-corner. That inevitably prompted a safety car.
The Red Bulls had been split into the first corner by Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who made a superb start from fifth on the grid. But Red Bull formation was resumed two laps after the restart, as Webber slipped past the Brazilian into Turn 6 and left him to try and fend off Kubica and Rosberg.
The McLarens had ended up sixth and seventh once the first corner mess unfolded, with Button in front until Hamilton dived past him into Turn 3 on lap six. Button then decided the track was ready for slicks and pitted.
This looked like an over-bold move when he skittered over the gravel at Turn 3 on his out-lap - but fastest sector times around the rest of the lap proved Button's gamble was wise.
Soon the whole field was following Button's example, although the two Red Bulls stayed out longer than most as the team expected more rain. Ultimately only light drizzle came, and the leaders belatedly went for slicks as well.
That tactic still succeeded for Vettel, who rejoined from his stop just ahead of the flying Button, who had vaulted to second thanks to his brave early tyre switch, but Webber stayed out until lap 10, losing out to Kubica and Rosberg - and then Massa too as he went over the grass at Turn 1 as he rejoined.
Vettel soon started edging away from Button, with Kubica and Rosberg dropping back from the two leaders. Behind them, some epic racing was underway, mostly involving drivers trying to get around Massa.
Webber surged down the inside of the Ferrari into Turn 1 on lap 15, with Hamilton immediately following him through and then attacking the Red Bull into Turn 3 - where both went wide, with Webber going right over the gravel. That allowed Massa back ahead of Hamilton, while by the time Webber regained the asphalt the charging Alonso had also gone through, the Bahrain winner having rapidly hacked through the midfield following his first lap spin.
Six laps later Hamilton successfully passed Massa for fifth into Turn 1, despite the Ferrari's best defensive efforts, with Alonso trying to do likewise into Turn 3, only to get hung out on the still-damp extremes of the track and lose a place to Webber again.
Once free of Massa, Hamilton charged straight onto Rosberg's tail and took fourth from the Mercedes with an incredible move around the outside into the sixth gear Turn 11. That cost the McLaren momentum onto the next straight and Rosberg looked set to repass into Turn 13 - but had to back off for yellow flags as moments earlier race leader Vettel had slid into the gravel as his Red Bull suffered a brake failure.
That denied Vettel a near-certain victory, and while the disconsolate German trudged back to the pits, Button found himself in the lead by 6s over Kubica, who soon had Hamilton all over the back of him, while behind them Webber made it past Massa with an outside line move at Turn 3. Alonso, however, would not get past his team-mate so easily, remaining trapped behind Massa for lap after lap.
By half-distance many drivers were struggling with wear on the soft tyres they had taken once the track dried, and after an initial slew of midfield pitstops, Hamilton, Rosberg and Webber all decided they needed fresh rubber too.
Webber was the first of the leaders to pit on lap 31, and managed to get around Rosberg through Turns 2 and 3 as the Mercedes rejoined after its stop a lap later. Hamilton waited two laps longer and stayed ahead of the now-flying Webber, despite a scare at Turn 13 when he took to the grass but was able to muscle back in front of the Red Bull at Turn 14 as it too slid wide.
Button had no concerns about tyre wear and continued to pull away from Kubica, who now had both Ferraris hounding him, while half a minute behind Button, Hamilton, Webber and Rosberg made the most of their fresher tyres to start taking 1-2s per lap out of the leaders.
With eight laps to go, Kubica, Massa, Alonso, Hamilton and Webber were nose to tail in second to sixth places, with Rosberg gaining on the queue as well. Hamilton's tyres went off again in the Ferraris' dirty air, but he still got alongside Alonso into Turn 13 two laps from the end. As Alonso kept Hamilton to the outside, Webber hit the back of the McLaren under braking, smashing the Red Bull's front wing and spinning Hamilton through the gravel. The latter rejoined in sixth, with Webber falling to ninth.
Button stayed comfortably clear of this mayhem, masterfully keeping his tyres in shape and cruising to victory with a 12s margin over Kubica.
Although Adrian Sutil was an early retirement, Tonio Liuzzi scored again for Force India in seventh, passing Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa mid-race and then gaining another place when Rubens Barrichello decided to pit for new tyres and dropped from eighth to 10th. He then inherited seventh thanks to the Hamilton/Webber tangle.
Barrichello fought back to reclaim ninth from de la Rosa and was elevated another place thanks to Webber's stop.
Schumacher never really recovered from his first lap delay, spending the majority of the afternoon trapped behind Jaime Alguersuari's Toro Rosso. Although he eventually overtook the young Spaniard, they would swap places again when both pitted for tyres and had to muscle back past the Toro Rosso in the closing stages. Both then passed the struggling de la Rosa, allowing Schumacher to at least salvage a point.
Heikki Kovalainen got to the finish for Lotus in 13th, with Karun Chandhok also going the distance for Hispania in 14th. The other new team cars all retired - Lotus's Jarno Trulli not even making the start due to hydraulic problems. Renault's Vitaly Petrov was the other retirement, spinning into the gravel on lap nine.
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
Button adamant McLaren will be stronger
McLaren will be able to challenge Red Bull Racing and Ferrari in the fight for victory in this weekend's Australian Grand Prix, reckons world champion Jenson Button.
Although the Briton and team-mate Lewis Hamilton were unable to threaten the pace-setters in the season opener in Bahrain, Button thinks the nature of the Albert Park circuit should help lift his team's performance this time out.
"The biggest threat this weekend? You'd have to say the Red Bulls, and the Ferraris, they were so quick in Bahrain," he said during a promotional event for Vodafone in Melbourne on Tuesday.
"I think we will be a lot closer here, this circuit should suit us quite well. Lewis has had a good time here before and I have, it's treating us well this circuit so hopefully we can get a good result."
When asked to explain why he was optimistic about McLaren doing better, Button said: "Because I know it will. This circuit is a low downforce circuit and that should suit us reasonably well, so I am excited about racing here. I think we can have a much better race. I am excited, and if I didn't think the car was good I wouldn't be."
Button also believes that local hero Mark Webber will put on a better show this weekend than he did in Bahrain - when a mistake in qualifying effectively scuppered his chances of fighting for the podium.
"I think he will be quick here," said Button. "I don't think you saw the best of Mark in Bahrain. I think he will be more competitive here in front of the home crowd, so hopefully for him he will have a good weekend, for me I hope he doesn't!
"It's competitive and I think the first race for him wasn't that great, but I think he will be quick here. He is quick and he is dedicated and that is the thing about Mark, he is very focused."
Although the Briton and team-mate Lewis Hamilton were unable to threaten the pace-setters in the season opener in Bahrain, Button thinks the nature of the Albert Park circuit should help lift his team's performance this time out.
"The biggest threat this weekend? You'd have to say the Red Bulls, and the Ferraris, they were so quick in Bahrain," he said during a promotional event for Vodafone in Melbourne on Tuesday.
"I think we will be a lot closer here, this circuit should suit us quite well. Lewis has had a good time here before and I have, it's treating us well this circuit so hopefully we can get a good result."
When asked to explain why he was optimistic about McLaren doing better, Button said: "Because I know it will. This circuit is a low downforce circuit and that should suit us reasonably well, so I am excited about racing here. I think we can have a much better race. I am excited, and if I didn't think the car was good I wouldn't be."
Button also believes that local hero Mark Webber will put on a better show this weekend than he did in Bahrain - when a mistake in qualifying effectively scuppered his chances of fighting for the podium.
"I think he will be quick here," said Button. "I don't think you saw the best of Mark in Bahrain. I think he will be more competitive here in front of the home crowd, so hopefully for him he will have a good weekend, for me I hope he doesn't!
"It's competitive and I think the first race for him wasn't that great, but I think he will be quick here. He is quick and he is dedicated and that is the thing about Mark, he is very focused."
Thursday, 18 March 2010
McLaren buys back Mercedes stake
McLaren has bought back the majority of Mercedes-Benz's stake in its Formula 1 team.
The German manufacturer owned 40 per cent of McLaren's F1 operation prior to taking over Brawn GP.
Mercedes denied at the time that the deal would mean the end of its relationship with McLaren, but admitted that the partnership, which is currently agreed until the end of 2011, would change.
McLaren said back in November that it planned to buy back the shares from Mercedes and team boss Martin Whitmarsh said today that the McLaren Group has regained a significant portion of the stake.
"I think it is about 11 per cent that is still owned by Mercedes, but it's not an important or significant number," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
McLaren Automotive chairman and former team boss Ron Dennis owns 15 per cent of the team, as does Saudi businessman Mansour Ojjeh, with a further 30 per cent belonging to Bahrain company Mumtalakat.
Whitmarsh was speaking today at the launch of McLaren's MP4-12C sportscar, which he hopes can compete against Ferraris in the GT racing world. He has spoken to Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo about future competition between the two in sportscars.
"Our message there was: 'We want to race with you [Ferrari]. Where are you going to go? Why don't we go together?'"
The German manufacturer owned 40 per cent of McLaren's F1 operation prior to taking over Brawn GP.
Mercedes denied at the time that the deal would mean the end of its relationship with McLaren, but admitted that the partnership, which is currently agreed until the end of 2011, would change.
McLaren said back in November that it planned to buy back the shares from Mercedes and team boss Martin Whitmarsh said today that the McLaren Group has regained a significant portion of the stake.
"I think it is about 11 per cent that is still owned by Mercedes, but it's not an important or significant number," he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
McLaren Automotive chairman and former team boss Ron Dennis owns 15 per cent of the team, as does Saudi businessman Mansour Ojjeh, with a further 30 per cent belonging to Bahrain company Mumtalakat.
Whitmarsh was speaking today at the launch of McLaren's MP4-12C sportscar, which he hopes can compete against Ferraris in the GT racing world. He has spoken to Ferrari boss Luca di Montezemolo about future competition between the two in sportscars.
"Our message there was: 'We want to race with you [Ferrari]. Where are you going to go? Why don't we go together?'"
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
McLaren report on preparations for the Bahrain GP
Jenson Button, McLaren
“I’m really looking forward to getting into my car on Friday morning in Bahrain and knowing that I’m the world champion. It’s a responsibility and an honour - but it’s something I’m going to enjoy for as long as I can. I don’t want to lose that number from my car! My winter has been an incredible learning experience - joining McLaren has provided me with exactly the sort of challenge I needed. I have put every effort into working with the team, my engineers and learning about my car to ensure that we start the season in Bahrain in the best possible shape. Even after four weeks of testing, it’s incredibly difficult to predict the order ahead of the new season. There are a number of teams and drivers who appear to be in the hunt, and, as with the start of every new season, it will be fascinating to see who emerges as the team to beat. I’ve never known a team work as hard as we have done over the winter - I’ve spent more time with my engineers this winter than I have before any other season, and I feel very comfortable about my preparations.”
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
“I can’t believe the winter is over already - it seems like only yesterday when I was racing in Abu Dhabi. It’s been a winter of two halves for me: before Christmas, I really focused on my fitness and training, working away to be as ready as possible for the new season. Since January, I’ve been fully focused on working with the team, testing the car and improving our package ahead of the opening race of the year. There’s been a huge workload, but it’s been fantastic to work with Jenson and the engineers to improve MP4-25, and we’re all extremely pleased with the progress we’ve made and the direction we’ve taken. I think we have a very promising car beneath us: it’s a real change of direction for us, and I think the possibilities with this car are very exciting. Now, though, it’s all about the racing - once I put my crash helmet on and pull the visor down, I know more than anything that I’m ready to go racing.”
Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal
“I can’t remember the start of a Formula One season where there’s been so much interest, excitement and anticipation. The closeness of the winter tests, our double-champion line-up, the return of a Formula One legend and the presence of four world champions on the grid mean that 2010 is already shaping up to be a classic season. From our side, we’ve been engaged in one of the most painstakingly diligent pre-season programmes that we’ve ever undertaken. We’ve amassed an enormous amount of data and we’ve learnt a considerable amount about MP4-25 in just four brief tests. We’ve been encouraged by our progress, we’ve been delighted with the input of both Jenson and Lewis and, finally, we feel ready. Make no mistake: we’re a team of racers. We’ve been waiting impatiently for the first race to arrive for many months. We feel we’ve risen to the challenge and we can’t wait to get started - Bahrain is a demanding track for both the team and the drivers and we’re looking forward enormously to racing in the home of one of our primary shareholders. It promises to be a fantastic Grand Prix.”
“I’m really looking forward to getting into my car on Friday morning in Bahrain and knowing that I’m the world champion. It’s a responsibility and an honour - but it’s something I’m going to enjoy for as long as I can. I don’t want to lose that number from my car! My winter has been an incredible learning experience - joining McLaren has provided me with exactly the sort of challenge I needed. I have put every effort into working with the team, my engineers and learning about my car to ensure that we start the season in Bahrain in the best possible shape. Even after four weeks of testing, it’s incredibly difficult to predict the order ahead of the new season. There are a number of teams and drivers who appear to be in the hunt, and, as with the start of every new season, it will be fascinating to see who emerges as the team to beat. I’ve never known a team work as hard as we have done over the winter - I’ve spent more time with my engineers this winter than I have before any other season, and I feel very comfortable about my preparations.”
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
“I can’t believe the winter is over already - it seems like only yesterday when I was racing in Abu Dhabi. It’s been a winter of two halves for me: before Christmas, I really focused on my fitness and training, working away to be as ready as possible for the new season. Since January, I’ve been fully focused on working with the team, testing the car and improving our package ahead of the opening race of the year. There’s been a huge workload, but it’s been fantastic to work with Jenson and the engineers to improve MP4-25, and we’re all extremely pleased with the progress we’ve made and the direction we’ve taken. I think we have a very promising car beneath us: it’s a real change of direction for us, and I think the possibilities with this car are very exciting. Now, though, it’s all about the racing - once I put my crash helmet on and pull the visor down, I know more than anything that I’m ready to go racing.”
Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal
“I can’t remember the start of a Formula One season where there’s been so much interest, excitement and anticipation. The closeness of the winter tests, our double-champion line-up, the return of a Formula One legend and the presence of four world champions on the grid mean that 2010 is already shaping up to be a classic season. From our side, we’ve been engaged in one of the most painstakingly diligent pre-season programmes that we’ve ever undertaken. We’ve amassed an enormous amount of data and we’ve learnt a considerable amount about MP4-25 in just four brief tests. We’ve been encouraged by our progress, we’ve been delighted with the input of both Jenson and Lewis and, finally, we feel ready. Make no mistake: we’re a team of racers. We’ve been waiting impatiently for the first race to arrive for many months. We feel we’ve risen to the challenge and we can’t wait to get started - Bahrain is a demanding track for both the team and the drivers and we’re looking forward enormously to racing in the home of one of our primary shareholders. It promises to be a fantastic Grand Prix.”
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
McLaren calls for support for new teams
McLaren believes that it is critical that Formula 1's new teams are stabilised as quickly as possible, for the good of the sport.
Following on from the withdrawals of BMW and Toyota at the end of 2009, and US F1's inability to make it to the grid this season, the Woking outfit's managing director Jonathan Neale said that the newcomers, such as Virgin and Lotus, should be welcomed into the fold, rather than disregarded for any lack of experience at the top level.
"As a group we have to be supportive in getting new teams off the ground," Neale told reporters via teleconference. "I respect greatly what the drivers are saying and one or two have raised concerns about it, but I think that's a matter for the FIA.
"We have to try and get as many new teams off the ground and stabilise them as quickly as possible because we need it in view of the disappointing losses Honda, Toyota and BMW [since 2008] is disappointing. I'd like to think that collectively we can achieve that."
Despite voicing his support for the new teams, Neale said that he expected the FIA to keep a close eye on their performances, and particularly that of the Spanish HRT squad, as its car will not turn a wheel until first practice in Bahrain this weekend.
"I wouldn't like to be an MD with a car running for the first time on a GP Friday in terms of the reliability package and how do you dial it in with such limited running and so few tyres," he added.
"I'm sure that the FIA will look very closely at it and if there are big gaps in closing speeds and plenty of red flags, then they'll take the necessary actions. And it's important that they do because we don't want yet more casualties before the start of the season."
Following on from the withdrawals of BMW and Toyota at the end of 2009, and US F1's inability to make it to the grid this season, the Woking outfit's managing director Jonathan Neale said that the newcomers, such as Virgin and Lotus, should be welcomed into the fold, rather than disregarded for any lack of experience at the top level.
"As a group we have to be supportive in getting new teams off the ground," Neale told reporters via teleconference. "I respect greatly what the drivers are saying and one or two have raised concerns about it, but I think that's a matter for the FIA.
"We have to try and get as many new teams off the ground and stabilise them as quickly as possible because we need it in view of the disappointing losses Honda, Toyota and BMW [since 2008] is disappointing. I'd like to think that collectively we can achieve that."
Despite voicing his support for the new teams, Neale said that he expected the FIA to keep a close eye on their performances, and particularly that of the Spanish HRT squad, as its car will not turn a wheel until first practice in Bahrain this weekend.
"I wouldn't like to be an MD with a car running for the first time on a GP Friday in terms of the reliability package and how do you dial it in with such limited running and so few tyres," he added.
"I'm sure that the FIA will look very closely at it and if there are big gaps in closing speeds and plenty of red flags, then they'll take the necessary actions. And it's important that they do because we don't want yet more casualties before the start of the season."
Monday, 8 March 2010
McLaren inspection delayed until Bahrain
The FIA will now wait until the Bahrain Grand Prix to take up McLaren's invite for another look at its rear wing design, following Red Bull Racing's recent complaints.
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said last week that his team was seeking clarification from the FIA about the rear wing concept of the MP4-25 - the design of which he believed was helping to stall it at high-speed and give the car more straight-line speed.
In the wake of the controversy, McLaren offered FIA technical chief Charlie Whiting the chance to give the wing another inspection during a meeting originally set-up to discuss other matters at its Woking factory last week.
That inspection did not take place, however, after Whiting suffered delays to his travel plans while he returned from a trip to South America and therefore had to cancel his visit.
With the FIA having already had correspondence with McLaren about the design of the wing, and not believing there to be a problem. AUTOSPORT has learned that the matter will now wait until the cars are in the garages in Bahrain.
McLaren is far from worried about the matter – which comes on the back of an encouraging final test for the team at Barcelona.
Team principal Martin Whitmarsh told The Daily Telegraph last week: "The wing is different and innovative, yes. But we have been in contact with Charlie over a period of several months to check that it complies with regulations. We have been assured that it does."
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said last week that his team was seeking clarification from the FIA about the rear wing concept of the MP4-25 - the design of which he believed was helping to stall it at high-speed and give the car more straight-line speed.
In the wake of the controversy, McLaren offered FIA technical chief Charlie Whiting the chance to give the wing another inspection during a meeting originally set-up to discuss other matters at its Woking factory last week.
That inspection did not take place, however, after Whiting suffered delays to his travel plans while he returned from a trip to South America and therefore had to cancel his visit.
With the FIA having already had correspondence with McLaren about the design of the wing, and not believing there to be a problem. AUTOSPORT has learned that the matter will now wait until the cars are in the garages in Bahrain.
McLaren is far from worried about the matter – which comes on the back of an encouraging final test for the team at Barcelona.
Team principal Martin Whitmarsh told The Daily Telegraph last week: "The wing is different and innovative, yes. But we have been in contact with Charlie over a period of several months to check that it complies with regulations. We have been assured that it does."
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