McLaren Mercedes

Formula 1 Team reports for the 2009 F1 season includes race previews, reports and reviews
Ed
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Post by Ed » Sat May 09, 2009 1:13 pm

2009 BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX

Sakhir, Sunday April 26

LEWIS HAMILTON

Started: 5th Finished: 4th

Fastest lap: 1m34.915s on lap 13 (6th) Pitstops: two (Op-Op-Pr)

Championship points: 9 Championship pos: 7th

Lewis made a fantastic start, converting fifth to third after vaulting both Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel into the first corner. On the opening lap, he was even able to look up the inside of Jarno Trulli’s Toyota for second, but prudently dropped back. At the start of lap two, he was relegated to fourth by a charging Button. “My start was quite good,” said Lewis. “Unfortunately, I was not able to keep third place – Jenson was just so fast through the corners so he was on my tail all the time.”

Nonetheless, he remained in fourth through the first round of stops (he stopped at the end of lap 15 and was stationary for 7.6s), jumping Timo Glock but being usurped by Vettel. Settling in behind Vettel and Trulli for the middle stint, the team remained hopeful of claiming a podium position but the pace of the lead cars left Lewis a solid fourth after his second pitstop (on lap 37, 8.0s).

“I’m delighted with fourth,” he said afterwards. “The Toyotas, Red Bulls and Brawns were so fast in the high-speed corners that it was just impossible to keep up. But this is another encouraging step for the team, we just need to keep working on the car because we’re not really fighting back quite yet, we are collecting points. And the gap will be bigger when we go to Barcelona because it’s a high-downforce circuit. We should challenge for the top 10 there, but another top-five will be harder.”

Lewis’s third consecutive points finish moves him to seventh in the drivers’ championship.

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN

Started: 11th Finished: 12th

Fastest lap: 1m35.520s on lap 54 (12th)
Pitstops: two (Pr-Op-Op)

Championship points: 4 Championship pos: 10th

An unfulfilling race for Heikki after a strong start to his weekend: a hectic opening lap, coupled with the team’s decision to start on the harder Bridgestone prime tyre, effectively ruined his chances of a strong result before he had completed his first stint.

Fuelled heavily and starting from 11th on the grid, he dropped to 17th and, despite climbing back to 13th, the slower prime meant he was powerless to get back into contention. “My start was a disaster,” he said. “Obviously, to begin the race on the prime tyre was the wrong choice. The harder tyres didn’t have the right grip and soon started to deteriorate.”

His planned longer-running first stint was also hurt by a tyre vibration issue which prompted the team to pit him earlier than scheduled (lap 12), further losing him track position and his strategic advantage. “The tyres started vibrating even though there wasn’t a flat-spot,” he explained.

Despite now being fitted with the faster option tyre (his second stop was on lap 37), he dropped back into the lower reaches of the top 20 and spent the remainder of his afternoon battling back to 12th.

“After my first pitstop the car felt much better,” Heikki added, “but by then it was too late to improve dramatically. Anyway, the pace was not very good. We now need to go away and analyse why our performance was not good enough today. We’ll be working even harder to improve it ahead of the next race in Barcelona.”

MARTIN WHITMARSH – team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“A great drive by Lewis today; he made no mistakes during the race and pushed aggressively. Without the pace to match the Toyotas, Brawns or Red Bulls, fourth place was a very strong result and it’s even more pleasing that we are steadily moving closer to their pace. A podium was in our grasp today but we didn’t quite make it. With Heikki, we fuelled him long and took a risk starting on the prime tyre. But we had to stop earlier than anticipated and lost too much time among other cars attempting a similar strategy, so that was disappointing. Overall, however this circuit possibly flattered us a little, but we’ve nonetheless made substantial progress over the past few weeks. Our competitors won’t stand still but we will keep improving until we get back to where we expect to be – at the front.”

NORBERT HAUG – vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“This was a step forward, no doubt. Likewise I think the nature of this racetrack at one of our home races here in Bahrain and Lewis’s driving skills helped us as much to achieve this result as our KERS hybrid, which is worth nearly half a second per lap around here. As for Heikki his race was basically over in the first lap traffic jam. Everybody in the team is well aware of the fact that we need to produce further dramatic improvements to MP4-24 in order to come back to where we used to be. Congratulations to BrawnGP for the third win in their fourth race ‘powered by Mercedes-Benz.’ Again, our engine guys did everything to keep the customer satisfied, and that is a very good feeling for everybody involved at Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines in Brixworth as well as in Stuttgart. Well done!”

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Post by Ed » Sat May 09, 2009 1:16 pm

SPANISH GRAND PRIX PREVIEW

Lewis Hamilton

2009 championship position 7th (9pts)

2008 Spanish GP Qual 5th Race 3rd Fastest lap 3rd

“The schedule for the first four races was very tough for everyone, so going back to Europe almost feels like a fresh start. After such a positive performance in Bahrain, we’re fully aware that the characteristics of the Barcelona track won’t suit our car so well. In addition, we won’t have the bigger upgrades of some of the other teams as we already introduced several new parts during the opening flyaways, so it will be interesting to see where we sit in the order. Nevertheless, the engineers are optimistic that our new diffuser and front wing will once again help us to make progress towards the front of the grid.”

Heikki Kovalainen

2009 championship position 10th (4pts)

2008 Spanish GP Qual 6th Race Ret Fastest lap 6th

“Going back to the scene of last year’s accident doesn’t change anything for me: I really enjoy this track – I had a great race to fifth here in 2007 and I love the high-speed corners, where you’ve got to push hard to get the maximum from the car. It’s also a circuit where you need to find the perfect balance to look after the tyres – and I really enjoy trying to find the best compromise for the race. Our pre-season test at Barcelona was not very encouraging, so we are going into this race with realistic expectations, but I’m optimistic the whole team can deliver once again this weekend.”

Martin Whitmarsh

Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“Our decision to introduce performance updates at each race rather than concentrate all our developments into a single upgrade package has helped us score some reasonable points in the opening flyaway races. With our rivals expected to introduce some more substantial improvements in Barcelona this weekend, we once again expect a fight to score points. And while the high-downforce nature of the Circuit de Catalunya may show up some of MP4-24’s shortcomings, everyone within the team remains confident and motivated that we can sustain the momentum we have gathered to push and close the gap to the front this weekend.”

Norbert Haug,

Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“The first four flyaway races within only five weeks have been turbulent and downright demanding for everyone in Formula 1, and particularly for us. The field has moved closer together than ever before in Formula 1 history. Unfortunately, we are still not competing in the right position and the beginning of the European Formula 1 season in Barcelona will be a true test for the future balance of power. I expect an extremely difficult race. We are in the middle of an intensive process of catching up and, in comparison to our competitiveness in the previous two seasons, we are still far from where we need to be. Our team is working extremely hard to achieve more significant improvements in aerodynamics and particularly in downforce, but to do so we still need more time.“

Ed
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Post by Ed » Sat May 09, 2009 1:19 pm

2009 SPANISH GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE ANALYSIS

Circuit de Catalunya, Friday May 8

With both drivers equipped with new chassis, the team kicked off the European season with several key bodywork upgrades: most notably a new front wing (FW4 – essentially a finessed version of the previous front-wing iteration, first raced in Shanghai), rotating rear hubs and a new floor. Today was spent firstly evaluating the new front wing before focusing on the improvements to the floor.

LEWIS HAMILTON

MP4-24-05

P1 programme

21 laps – 1m23.077s (14th)

Starting on a green circuit and running on prime tyres throughout, Lewis conducted an opening six-lap run (best time 1m23.850s) to establish a benchmark for FW4. Subsequently back-to-backing it with FW3 and returning again to FW4, he ran four laps, 1m23.121s, four laps/1m23.077s and four laps/1m23.974s). He ended up 14th

P2 programme

31 laps – 1m22.809s (13th)

Switching his focus to the new floor – which features a double-diffuser for the first time this season, Lewis again started off on primes and completed a short, four-lap run (1m23.964s) before beginning his programme on the option tyre. Conducting two longer runs (seven laps/1m23.363s and 10 laps/1m23.140s), Lewis felt that the improvements to the car were inconclusive: “We’re still a long way away and I didn’t feel any improvement,” he said. “I think it’s going to be hard work to get into Q3 tomorrow. We’re pushing but unfortunately the upgrades we tried didn’t work for me and the car doesn’t feel like it’s improved. We lose a lot of time in Turns Three and Nine because we can’t carry the speed through the high-speed corners like other teams. But we’ll battle our way through.”

He ended the day with a two-lap run (1m22.809s), more satisfied with his ability to lean on the car, but choosing to curtail the stint after locking up and running wide at the final chicane. He ended the day 13th.

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN

MP4-24-02

P1 programme

17 laps – 1m23.522s (19th)

Beginning the session with FW4, Heikki completed an initial four-lap run (1m24.708s) before reverting to FW2 (the front-end he has preferred since Shanghai) to complete the comparison, he carried out a six-lap programme on the prime tyre (1m23.522s). A third and final run was brought to a premature halt by a gearbox hydraulic problem, resulting in him finishing 19th.

P2 programme

29 laps – 1m22.876s (14th)

Heikki’s afternoon running was slightly delayed as his mechanics fixed the gearbox issue and installed a new floor. As a result, he sat out the first 20 minutes before starting the session with a four-lap run (1m23.998s) on primes. Switching to options for the rest of the day, he conducted the following programme: three laps/1m23.183s; four laps/1m23.438s and nine laps/1m22.876s to end up 14th quickest.

He said: "We had a gearbox issue in the first session which was caused by a hydraulics problem. Fortunately, the team was able to fix this shortly after we started second practice so I didn’t lose too much time.”

Heikki was also pleased by the improvements the new components appear to have made to MP4-24’s performance: “I’m really happy with the progress we made,” he said. “The new parts we have on the car obviously seem to work: I think we’ve improved the technical package since Bahrain but we need to wait until tomorrow to compare our pace with our rivals’.”

MARTIN WHITMARSH – team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“Inevitably, when you come to a circuit with a big package of modifications that need assessing in a very short period of time, you get some successes and some failures. But coming into this weekend, we’ve been realistic and disciplined: we always knew this would be a challenging circuit, but we’ve gathered a lot of data – and that will enable us to study our performance overnight and enhance the car for tomorrow. Are we as quick as we want to be? No. Do we believe we can get through into Q3 tomorrow? Yes, we do.”

NORBERT HAUG – vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“Our laptimes during our race simulation in the afternoon looked better than two months ago at the final winter test. The positive is this proves that we are working in the right direction; the negative is that we are still not quick enough to fight for podium finishes – in fact, it will be tough to enter Q3 tomorrow and to start the race in the Top 10. Also on this circuit, our KERS hybrid is a good help for improving our laptimes and hopefully KERS will be even more of a help at the race on Sunday as only four of 20 racers are running the system here.”

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Post by Ed » Sun May 10, 2009 12:11 am

2009 SPANISH GRAND PRIX – QUALIFYING ANALYSIS

Circuit de Catalunya, Saturday May 9

LEWIS HAMILTON

MP4-24-05

P3 programme 16 laps 1m21.346s (7th)

A busy morning session for Lewis. He completed an initial run on primes(five laps/1m22.865s best) to evaluate overnight changes to the car. Switching to options, he completed a one-lap 1m21.680s, which he felt was very close to the limit before reeling off a final three-lap run (1m21.346s). “We had a much better feeling on the softer tyre this morning,” he said, “but it is still difficult to stop the car understeering through the longer corners like Turns Three and Nine.”

Qualifying

Q1 1m20.991s (10th)
Q2 1m21.130s (14th overall)
Q3 -

Lewis completed a banker lap of 1m21.244s on the option: “It wasn’t a bad lap,” he admitted, “but there was still too much understeer through Three and Nine.” A second Q1 lap, again on options, yielded a 1m20.991s, putting him 10th overall and graduating him through to Q2.

Into the second session, Lewis ran an opening lap on used options to set a 1m21.130s before running again to record 1m20.805s – unfortunately it was not quite close enough and he finished the session in 14th.

“We did the best we could today,” he said afterwards. “My lap was not fantastic but the car was not fast enough either – I didn’t have the grip to go any faster. However, it will be quite a long and tough race for everyone tomorrow and we’ll try and make up as many places as possible and hope to score some points. We’ll learn from this, keep pushing and do better in the future.”


HEIKKI KOVALAINEN

MP4-24-02

P3 programme 15 laps 1m21.519s (11th)

Heikki was also encouraged by the changes made to MP4-24, although he noted that the car didn’t feel substantially different to yesterday. Nonetheless, he finished the session 11th overall, completing two runs (five laps/1m23.598s on primes; five laps/1m21.519s on options).

Qualifying

Q1 1m21.675s (18th overall)
Q2 -
Q3 -

A first run on primes (three laps, 1m23.095s) set Heikki up well for the sharp end of Q1, but his 1m21.675s lap on the option tyre was not enough to see him through into the second session. He lines up 18th for tomorrow’s race.

“This was the first time this year that I didn’t reach Q2,” said a disappointed Heikki afterwards. “Into the last sector, Nick was a little bit ahead of me but I don’t think he lost me a lot of time. It’s been quite a difficult weekend: I just couldn’t find any grip today – that’s why the laptime was too slow.”

MARTIN WHITMARSH – team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“We knew in advance that this was going to be a particularly difficult circuit for us and today proved that. Let’s not forget that only eight weeks ago we were more than 2.5s off the pace – during qualifying today, Lewis was only three tenths off second place in Q1 and eight tenths off the front in Q2. While that’s still disappointing, it’s nonetheless a significant step up from where we were back in early March – and at a track that we knew would challenge the deficiencies in our car. However, the first four races have demonstrated that we have two very determined racing drivers in our team: they have battled against the odds in the first four races and we have every faith that they will make the most of tomorrow as well.”

NORBERT HAUG – vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“Lewis in 14th and Heikki in 18th place is obviously a very disappointing result today. On the positive side, we closed the gap to the quickest car from 2.5s per lap at the last test two months ago before the season stared when we were dead last, to a little less than one second today. We knew that the fast corners of this circuit would highlight the shortcomings of MP4-24, which is mainly a lack of overall downforce. It took us two months to cut our deficit in half – our aim now has to be to be fighting for race wins within the next two months.”

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Post by Ed » Mon May 11, 2009 1:14 am

2009 SPANISH GRAND PRIX

Circuit de Catalunya, Sunday May 10

LEWIS HAMILTON
MP4-24-05

Started: 14th
Finished: 9th
Fastest lap: 1m23.839s
Pitstops: two (Op-Op-Pr)

Championship points: 9
Championship pos: 7th

Lewis was delayed at the start as he attempted to pass Nelson Piquet and ran onto the grass as the Renault jinked right ahead of him. Perhaps fortuitously, it dropped him behind the first-lap carnage, and he was able to steer around most of the debris to emerge 15th. A lengthy first stint saw him slowly work himself up the order to run as high as sixth before making his first pitstop on lap 31 to fit another set of options. Resuming inside the top 10, he struggled with his rear tyres, which prompted an earlier-than-scheduled switch to the prime on lap 49. Thereafter, he drove well to withstand a late charge from Glock and finished ninth.

“Today was a difficult race for me because we lack the downforce of the top cars,” said Lewis. “I was a bit worried about my tyres after driving over so much debris at the first corner but I came out of it okay. It was a tough, long race and it was incredibly hard to keep the car on the road – it felt like driving on ice at times, especially at the end of the second stint, when the tyres were finished, and in the final stint, when there was very little grip on the prime.

“I gave it 100 per cent for the entire race so ninth place doesn’t feel like the proper reward for the team, who worked hard all weekend. Still, we’re all hopeful that Monaco will be a better race for us because the absence of fast corners shouldn’t hurt us as much as it did here. In fact, I’m already looking forward to it.”

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN
MP4-24-02

Started: 18th
Finished: ret

Fastest lap: 1m28.719s (16th)
Pitstops: -

Championship points: 4
Championship pos: 11th

Starting from 18th on the grid and using the option tyre, Heikki got a good start, got himself ahead of the opening-lap chaos at the exit of Turn Two and ran 11th. However, when the Safety Car was deployed at the end of the first lap, Heikki lost fifth gear and then lost sixth and seventh gears in quick succession. Running back to the pits in fourth, he was forced to park it on lap seven.

“Luck just doesn’t seem to be going my way right now,” he said afterwards. “It’s been a difficult weekend – the car’s performance is not where we want it to be and this was tough for us all – but that’s life. But we shouldn’t forget that we’ve improved our car massively since we last tested here in the winter and eventually we’ll be fighting with Jenson and the other guys at the front. I’m already looking ahead to Monaco where I’ll be fighting harder than ever. I’m not going to let this get me down.”

MARTIN WHITMARSH
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“Lewis made a great start off the line – but, after having been obstructed by another car, through no fault of his own he lost time avoiding an accident and ended up at the back of the field at the end of lap one. After that, his task was always going to be a tough one, because the Barcelona circuit is not an easy one on which to overtake. Furthermore, his tyres went off during his second stint, and then he got pipped by Fernando when they made their second pit stops. But he kept pushing as hard as he could, in ninth place, in the hope that one of the cars ahead of him would drop out and thereby allow him to score one hard-earned championship point. It didn't happen, unfortunately, but the fact that Lewis never gave up demonstrates just what a competitive individual he is. Heikki made a decent start, but his race was ended disappointingly – and unluckily – by a gearbox failure.

“We predicted that this race would be a low point of our season, and we've been proved right. In two weeks’ time, at Monaco, which is a very different kind of circuit from Barcelona, things ought to be significantly better for us. But we know we aren't yet where we want to be, and we'll continue to work flat-out to get there.”

NORBERT HAUG
Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“We knew since testing here what to expect from our car on this racetrack. Being lapped here is not what Lewis deserves: he delivered everything that was possible with his car today – we just cannot handle the high-speed corners and need to dramatically improve over the next weeks and months. Thank God the Brawn guys saved our bacon again with our engine in the back. Congratulations Jenson, Rubens, Ross and the whole team, you guys have been the benchmark since the season started.”

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Post by Ed » Tue May 19, 2009 7:21 pm

2009 MONACO GRAND PRIX PREVIEW

Lewis Hamilton

“Monaco is my favourite circuit. The sensation you get from racing up the hill at 175mph, trying to make as straight a line as possible between the barriers while just shaving them with the walls of the tyres is unbelievable – the best sensation you could ever have in a Formula 1 car. There’s an expectation that Monaco will be another good circuit for our car package because the combination of low-speed corners and absence of any really fast stuff should suit MP4-24. I really hope so because it would be fantastic to have a competitive car and to be fighting at the front again.

Heikki Kovalainen

“I really enjoy driving on street circuits and I’m optimistic that we’ve got a good package for Monaco. Although the results don’t show it, because I was forced to start from the pitlane, I had a very strong race here last year and charged up from the back to finish eighth. Hopefully, I’ll have an easier race this year! We will be using KERS in Monaco and one of the questions will be whether we’ll actually be able to use it to get past other cars – as usual, KERS will be a benefit for us, but anything can happen in Monte Carlo. Coming off the back of a disappointing race in Spain last week, I’m more determined than ever to get a strong result under my belt.”

Martin Whitmarsh

Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“Everybody at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is rightfully proud of the team’s reputation around the streets of Monte Carlo. We have won the grand prix for the past two seasons and McLaren has triumphed here an unprecedented 15 times – more than any other Formula 1 team. As a result, we go into the race with a greater degree of optimism than we had going into Barcelona: both Lewis and Heikki enjoy this circuit and we feel MP4-24 will be a more competitive proposition around the streets of the principality.”

Norbert Haug

Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“The Monaco Grand Prix is certainly the most classic race on the calendar of the Formula 1 World Championship and the one that gets the broadest audience worldwide. Monaco is thrilling each and every year and everybody involved in Formula 1 has to be proud that this prestigious event is part of our campaign. Our track record in the principality looks good – since our first victory in 1998, we have won there on six of 11 occasions, an achievement which makes this circuit obviously one of our favourites. Our results have not been strong lately so we all will be very focused in Monaco in order to create an upwards trend.”

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Post by Ed » Fri May 22, 2009 10:44 am

2009 MONACO GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE ANALYSIS

Monte Carlo, Thursday May 21

LEWIS HAMILTON
MP4-24-04

P1 programme
26 laps 1m17.578s (3rd)

A straightforward day for Lewis, who began the day by running three stints on primes in P1: six laps/1m17.578s best; five laps/1m18.238s and seven laps/1m17.863s. The session was split between track familiarisation, evaluating new components and tweaking set-up.

Lewis said: “Driving around Monaco is a spectacular sensation – you can’t compare it to any other circuit. You get such a huge buzz here; I love this place – it reminds me how much I love this sport, why I love racing and why I love Formula 1.”

P2 programme
35 laps 1m15.445s (2nd)

Into P2, the team evaluated the prime and option tyre, completing longer runs and further tweaking the set-up for the circuit. As the track rubbered in, the times got progressively faster, resulting in runs of: four laps/1m18.124s and eight laps/1m16.523s, during which he was delayed behind Buemi and chose to miss the apex of Turn 16. His next run of six laps/1m16.204s was also hampered by a flat-spotted tyre, caused after locking up at the entrance to the harbour chicane. He finished the session with an option-tyre run of five laps, setting his 1m15.445s best.

“From today’s performance, I think Q3 is definitely possible on Saturday,” Lewis added. “I’m optimistic about shooting for the top five – I hope we can get there.”

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN
MP4-24-02

P1 programme
30 laps 1m17.686s (4th)

A long seven-lap first run (1m19.642s) on primes quickly helped Heikki to establish a benchmark for the weekend and he worked well throughout the day to refine his set-up and approach to the track. A quick run up the escape road at Ste Devote failed to halt his progress as he completed further runs of seven laps/1m18.609s and eight laps/1m17.686s.

P2 programme
45 laps 1m15.984s (7th)

For the afternoon, Heikki also ran a tyre comparison programme, running five laps (1m18.361s) on options, a short two-lapper (1m16.871s) on primes and three final runs - 11 laps (1m17.369s) on primes, a brief three laps (1m15.984s) on options and a final option-tyre run of 14 laps (1m17.491s).

“Lots of traffic today – but that’s normal for Monaco,” Heikki said. “Today’s running tells us we’ll be more competitive here. The team has worked very well and my car was in good shape straight away this morning. The most important thing is that we’ve made consistent improvements – we’ve made good progress on the set-up and I’ve been dialling myself further into the car and the track on each run. While our car seems to behave well around here, there’s still some work to do – we won’t be able to do miracles over the weekend.”

MARTIN WHITMARSH – team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“The whole team loves the thrill and tension of the Monaco weekend and today’s performance has left us feeling encouraged that we will have another successful weekend in the principality. Both Lewis and Heikki have really dived into the challenge, both producing some excellent times and, most importantly, helping to refine our technical package ahead of Saturday’s crucial qualifying session and the race itself. We go into Saturday feeling extremely positive about getting a strong result from both drivers.”

NORBERT HAUG – vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“A good first day on this challenging track which saw Vodafone McLaren Mercedes winning on the last two occasions. It is too early to know where we will be in qualifying compared to our competitors, but Lewis and Heikki should hopefully be in better shape than at previous races. The car so far just looks better on this track and our mechanical and aerodynamic improvements seem to help here around as well as our KERS hybrid. Having said that, I do not see us in the role of the favourites like in previous years when we won six grands prix out of 11 since McLaren Mercedes’ maiden win in 1998.”

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Post by Ed » Sun May 24, 2009 12:48 am

2009 MONACO GRAND PRIX – QUALIFYING ANALYSIS

Monte Carlo, Saturday May 23

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN

MP4-24-02

P3 programme
24 laps 1m15.278s (3rd)

Three runs for Heikki – prime-prime-option – as he refined MP4-24 ahead of qualifying. “The car definitely felt calmer and more stable over the bumps,” he said. “It’s a bit easier to control.” Heikki completed four laps/1m17.330s best; five laps/1m16.216s and a final, longer run of eight laps/1m15.278s.

Qualifying

Q1 1m15.495s (6th)
Q2 1m14.809s (2nd)
Q3 1m15.516s (7th overall)

Capitalising on his very strong performance in morning practice, Heikki powered through the opening two qualifying sessions, comfortably setting the pace at the sharp end of the field. Into Q3, his seventh position on the grid leaves him looking strategically strong for the race and he remains confident of another strong showing tomorrow.

"I’ve felt really comfortable with the car throughout the whole weekend,” Heikki said. “Obviously, we wanted to be on pole but didn’t manage that - let’s see how the race unfolds and where we’ll be after the first stops. Lewis was very unfortunate this afternoon – we are always at the limit around here and a little slip-up can put you into the barriers. I touched the guardrails three times during qualifying and I’m lucky that it didn’t have any negative consequences."

LEWIS HAMILTON

MP4-24-04

P3 programme
23 laps 1m15.389s (7th)

Three runs for Lewis this morning: six laps/1m15.622s best (on primes); three laps/1m15.389s (on options) and six laps/1m16.660s (on options). “We’ve made some very positive changes since Thursday,” said Lewis. “The track is grippier and cleaner and our car’s traction feels very good.”

Qualifying

Q1 1m16.264s (16th overall)
Q2 -
Q3 -

A disappointing result for Lewis, who looked set for his strongest qualifying result of the year. In the afternoon’s first session, he braked late for Mirabeau, unsettled the back of the car and hit the tyre barrier. The damage to his rear suspension meant he was unable to complete the session. His time of 1m16.264s places him 16th on tomorrow’s grid.

“I made a mistake,” said Lewis. “I just braked too late – it’s unfortunate, but these things happen. It’s not been a good day: I had been going well all weekend and had the possibility of being on the front row. It’s a shame for the team, because they have done such a fantastic job all weekend and the car has felt really strong – as Heikki’s grid position shows. Starting 16th is frustrating, but I’ll learn from this, drive my heart out tomorrow and see what happens.”

MARTIN WHITMARSH – team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“Heikki has driven with increasing commitment all weekend. Two very strong laps in Q1 and Q2 showed that he was capable of taking the fight to the leaders. And we are confident that his strategy for tomorrow will push him even closer to the front. Lewis’s accident was disappointing – he knows he made a mistake – but we all know he will not give up. That’s his nature – and as a result I feel sure he will approach tomorrow’s race with undiminished commitment.”

NORBERT HAUG – vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“The speed was there to be among the quickest, so it’s a shame what happened to Lewis after he has been among the fastest during all previous practice sessions but such contact with the guardrails can easily happen in Monaco. Heikki was good, put in a solid performance and has a good strategy. Monaco has its own rules so we still can look good tomorrow despite starting seventh and 16th.”

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Post by Ed » Mon May 25, 2009 1:59 am

2009 MONACO GRAND PRIX

Monte-Carlo, Sunday May 24

LEWIS HAMILTON
MP4-24-04

Started: 19th
Finished: 12th
Fastest lap: 1m15.706s (8th)
Pitstops: two (Op-Pr-Pr)

Championship points: 9 Championship pos: 9th

Starting from 19th on the grid after a precautionary overnight gearbox change, Lewis was always going to struggle to overtake cars around the twisting streets of Monte-Carlo. His early struggle for pace was exacerbated by damage to a front-wing footplate, caused after he tangled with Nick Heidfeld at Ste Devote in the early laps. Stopping early on lap 10 to change from Options, he resumed on Primes, but it was only after making his second stop, on lap 53, when he switched to another set of Primes and changed the damaged nosebox that he was able to set a more representative pace. Despite a late charge to overhaul Heidfeld, Lewis was unable to finish higher than 12th.

“It was an extremely tough race,” Lewis said. “I raced my heart out and feel satisfied with my performance today. I damaged a footplate on my front wing quite early on when I clipped one of the BMWs going into Ste Devote. It meant I had a lot of understeer throughout the race – putting a new wing on made it a bit better but it wasn’t enough. In the closing laps, my tyres were going off just as much as Nick’s and it was a bit too dangerous to attempt a pass.

“I was thinking about one of the Rocky films – in the first film, Rocky says, ‘I just want to see the end of the fight’ and I got to the flag, pushing as hard as I could throughout the race.

“Congratulations to Jenson and everyone at the Brawn GP team – they’re clearly doing a fantastic job this year.”

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN
MP4-24-02

Started: 7th
Finished: ret
Fastest lap: 1m15.672s (6th)
Pitstops: one (Pr-Pr)

Championship points: 4 Championship pos: 13th

From seventh on the grid, Heikki maintained his position throughout the opening stint, enjoying an early nip-and-tuck battle with Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa. Moving as high as third before making his first pitstop (switching to a second set of Primes on lap 21), the team opted to long-fuel Heikki for the middle stint, dropping him to eighth but leaving him well placed to overhaul his rivals during the second pitstop sequence.

On a heavy fuel-load, Heikki maintained pace with the frontrunners and looked destined for a points finish when he damaged the car, losing the rear-end at the exit of Turn 14 while pushing to narrow the gap to Nico Rosberg.

“A disappointing outcome to my weekend after some real promise,” Heikki said afterwards. “During my first stint, I had a little difficulty making my tyres work properly. Nevertheless, I was able to get past Sebastian Vettel. My second set was much better and I was just waiting for Nico’'s pitstop to have chance to pass him, unfortunately I didn’t get that far.

“I hit the kerb at the fast chicane and the car’s rear stepped out. I couldn’t catch it and hit the guardrails. It was my fault and I want to say sorry to my team – who have worked so hard to provide me with a competitive car. We’ll keep pushing, developing the car and continuing with the catching-up process.”

MARTIN WHITMARSH
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“To leave Monaco without having scored world championship points is clearly disappointing, especially since our car was very competitive here: our pace in both sessions on Thursday, and on Saturday morning, demonstrated that very clearly. Even so, after Lewis's troubled qualifying, there was little he could do from the back of the grid today – Monaco is a notoriously difficult circuit on which to overtake, even with a decent performance advantage over the cars ahead. Nonetheless, Lewis drove very hard all afternoon, which is typical of his never-give-up attitude. As for Heikki, he was driving a strong race that would have netted him a very welcome points finish, when he entered the Swimming Pool just a little too fast, unloaded his car's rear-end and couldn't quite catch it. But that's Monaco: when you're pushing hard, it's very unforgiving, as Lewis also showed yesterday. Overall, then, the 2009 Monaco Grand Prix was a race that could and should have gone a lot better for us – but the reality is that both our cars showed genuine pace so there are also plenty of positives for us to take forward from here."


NORBERT HAUG
Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“Lewis’s chances for the race were greatly affected by him hitting the guardrails during Q1 yesterday. What could have been possible with a good starting place close to the front of the grid was shown from Lewis in the last third of the race when he was without traffic posting competitive lap times until he got stuck behind a slower car in the closing laps. Heikki crashed after two thirds of the race at the Swimming Pool section – his speed in seventh place before had been good and was promising a better result. We need to quickly put this race behind us and concentrate on further improvements for the car before the next grand prix in Turkey. My sincere congratulations to Jenson Button and the Brawn GP team for winning this prestigious race today – he has now won the last three grands prix on the same engine, a new record in modern Formula 1.”

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Post by Ed » Sat May 30, 2009 12:42 am

TURKISH GRAND PRIX PREVIEW

Lewis Hamilton

“I love racing in Turkey: it’s a real challenge because you need to attack the lap to get a good time, but you also need to be careful with your tyres – if you push too much, particularly through Turn Eight, then your tyres are going to suffer. It’s all about finding the perfect balance in practice and being disciplined in the race so you don’t overdo it. I also love the fact that it’s a new circuit that has really captured the flavour of some of the older, classic tracks – it’s got a bit of everything and is fantastic to drive. Also, as it’s anti-clockwise, it gives your neck a bit of a workout – but you just need to make sure you’ve exercised the left side of your neck a little more than usual before getting in the car.”

Heikki Kovalainen

“Turkey is all about Turn Eight – the high-speed, four-apex left-hander. On a good day in qualifying, it’s flat-out – and that’s a pretty good feeling when you get it right. It’s also very important to look after your tyres through Turn Eight – you put a lot of load through the tyres, particularly the fronts, so it’s a good idea to look after them during the race. The best place to overtake here is into Turn 12, the corner at the end of the back straight. You can get a good tow and slipstream past – with KERS we should hopefully see some exciting racing.”

Martin Whitmarsh
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“The Istanbul Park circuit is one of the most challenging modern circuits - for both teams and drivers. Firstly, it’s a real set-up challenge – you need to find a handling balance between the high-speed corners, the slower, infield section and the long straights. In addition, tyre-wear – particularly to the heavily loaded front-right through Turn Eight – is a crucial factor in determining overall strategy. For the drivers, a combination of multi-apex and blind corners adds to the challenge. We go to Turkey in the knowledge that the track characteristics are a bit less likely to suit our package than Monaco, but we are improving all the time, have several minor upgrades for MP4-24 and look forward to assessing our competitiveness against our rivals.”

Norbert Haug
Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“The layout of the circuit is challenging and, in Turn Eight, comprises the longest and fastest corner on the calendar as well as very slow corners where good braking stability and good traction are needed. KERS should again be a good support to improve our lap times, but nevertheless the Turkish Grand Prix will be a demanding challenge for us.”

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Post by Ed » Sat Jun 06, 2009 12:43 am

2009 TURKISH GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE ANALYSIS

Istanbul Park, Friday June 5

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN - MP4-24-03

P1 programme 20 laps 1m29.590s (10th)

Evaluating the latest series of aero modifications (additions to the front wing and the rear floor), Heikki started the programme on a set of Options (after his initial set of Primes were removed with a loose valve). He completed two runs (five laps/1m31.076s best and two laps/1m31.686s) before switching to a set of Primes to carry out a four lap run at the end of the session (1m29.263s best). The morning was largely spent refining the balance as Heikki felt the set-up required some improvement before he was completely comfortable.

Heikki said: “At the start of the session, the track was very green and it was quite hard to stay on the road – particularly in the opening corners. At first, the car was quite difficult to drive but we worked hard during the session and I think we found a very good balance.”

P2 programme 37 laps 1m28.841s (1st)

Lunchtime changes improved handling and locking and Heikki declared himself pleased with the balance after an opening five-lap run on Primes (1m29.803s). Another short run (three laps/1m28.841s) was followed by a longer run (eight laps/1m29.882s) – both on Primes. Two final runs were carried out on Options (two laps/1m29.550s and seven laps/1m30.427s). Despite being affected by an ongoing issue with his brake balance system, Heikki set the fastest time of the day and concluded that his car felt in good shape for the remainder of the grand prix weekend.

“The most important thing is that the car is working fine – and the balance is surprisingly good,” Heikki said. “I think we’ve made another step forward so everybody in the team can be pleased about today. I still think it will be a tough fight to get into the top 10 tomorrow, but we’ll be trying the maximum to improve overnight so that we can join the fight. Overall, it’s very encouraging that we have made another step forward.”

LEWIS HAMILTON - MP4-24-04

P1 programme 23 laps 1m28.952s (2nd)

A busy and productive first session. Starting on a green track, Lewis nonetheless quickly got down to business during three timed runs (a fourth was cut short by the late-session red flag). Running on Prime tyres throughout, Lewis completed runs of five laps/1m30.247s best, four laps/1m29.319s and four laps/1m29.263s.

“The track was very slippery this morning, particularly in the first sector where several cars were sliding around a lot,” said Lewis. “But we had a very good session, I was very satisfied with the car: it felt good to drive. More encouragingly, I could also feel a subtle improvement from the new parts we tested today. A good start to our weekend.”

P2 programme 31 laps 1m29.435s (13th)

Carrying on with a typical Friday afternoon tyre comparison session, Lewis ran a brief run on Primes to confirm between-session mechanical changes (two laps/1m29.435s) before completing two longer runs on Options (eight laps each – 1m29.810s and 1m29.450s). Adapting to rear stability issues, Lewis lost the back of the car at the exit of Turn One and later out-braked himself into Turn 12 during his final run on the Prime (two laps/1m29.887s). Nonetheless, the subtle mechanical and aerodynamic improvements made to MP4-24 for this race look promising.

Lewis said: “Before we arrived here, we thought we’d probably have the same sort of pace that we had in Barcelona, but it seems like we’re a little bit faster than we anticipated. I had a couple of spins this afternoon – but that just proves I was pushing hard! We have a little instability on the exit of some corners but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the pace of the car today. The guys back at the factory have worked hard to give us this improvement; now we’ll keep on working and trying to improve the car and hope that tomorrow is an even better day for us.”

MARTIN WHITMARSH – team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“A good effort by Heikki today, who was quickest despite having a very frustrating two sessions. This morning, he had a valve problem with his tyres so had to switch sets at the last minute, which interrupted his programme. And this afternoon, he had a problem with his brake balance sensor. Despite all this, he conducted his full programme and made reasonable progress over his long runs.

“Lewis concentrated on a tyre comparison and set-up programme. I think we possibly went in a few wrong directions this afternoon, so we’re comfortable with the pace we’ve achieved. There’s still a lot of work left to do to optimise the car, but hopefully we can continue the strong progress we started today
“It’s always nice to see you’ve set the quickest time of the day. The reality is that the timesheets don’t lie – our aim for tomorrow is to hopefully get both cars into the final session of qualifying. That’s our realistic goal.”

NORBERT HAUG – vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“Today was a productive test day for us. The laptimes seem to be closer than ever with just over seven tenths of a second separating Heikki in first from 16th place in the rankings. Our laptimes during this afternoon’s race simulations looked not bad and hopefully we can make another step forward tomorrow and start from a good position on the grid for Sunday’s race.”

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Post by Ed » Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:59 pm

2009 TURKISH GRAND PRIX – QUALIFYING ANALYSIS

Istanbul Park, Saturday June 6

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN - MP4-24-03

P3 programme

19 laps/1m28.738s (15th)

Three runs this morning, evaluating both Prime tyre (three laps/1m29.264s and three laps/1m28.738s) and Option (four laps/1m28.857s) ahead of qualifying. Reporting similar locking and rear-end instability issues as yesterday, the team worked throughout the session to hone the balance to Heikki’s satisfaction.

“I was pushing to the maximum this morning,” he said. “But I flat-spotted the left-front on one run and was always trying to cope with the snappiness of the rear-end. Through Turn Eight, the car was very difficult to drive smoothly.”

Qualifying

Q1 1m28.199s (14th)
Q2 1m28.207s (14th)
Q3 -

Two strong runs of 1m28.199s and 1m28.629s in Q1 on the Prime saw Heikki move into the second session in 14th. Into Q2, he did two more runs (1m28.318s and 1m28.207s) to finish the session 14th overall.

“Our car doesn’t have enough grip for us to attack the fast corners,” Heikki said. “The others seem to gain grip through the weekend and are able to better use the Option tyre while we’re using the Prime and losing performance. Braking and acceleration are still very good but we’re just losing grip as the track temperature increases.

“The gap to the leaders is still too big so we need to do some more work back at the MTC to move closer to the front. We’ll never give up, but tomorrow’s race will be difficult.”


LEWIS HAMILTON - MP4-24-04

P3 programme

19 laps/1m28.563s (12th)

Three morning runs for Lewis too. He initially reported that the front felt well-balanced but, throughout the session, he continued working with his engineers to get the car’s rear-end to operate more effectively. He ran the following programme: four laps/1m28.563s/Prime; three laps/1m28.736s/Prime; three laps/1m28.944s/Option.

Lewis said: “The car felt great this morning – it was very well-balanced at the front but we still had to work to get the rear working properly. We anticipated this weekend would be a bit like Barcelona and that looks like being the case.”

Qualifying

Q1 1m28.318s (16th overall)
Q2 -
Q3 -

Struggling for grip on both the Option and Prime tyre, Lewis completed two runs, setting times of 1m28.318s and 1m28.402s to conclude the first qualifying session in 16th.

“Our car seems to have got slower relative to the others as the grip has gone down on the track,” said Lewis afterwards. “I pushed as hard as I could today but I just had no grip out there. We now need to make sure we don’t rush into making too many changes to the car for the forthcoming races: we’ll take our time, refine things and sort out the problem with our car. The team has done a fantastic job though: they really have been working night and day with the same determination and drive as ever. This is clearly going to be a challenging year for us, but I have no doubts that we’ll bounce back.”


MARTIN WHITMARSH

Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“At the risk of stating the obvious, today's qualifying session was a pretty disappointing one for us. Having said that, we didn't allow our pace yesterday to cause us to be unduly optimistic about our prospects for today and tomorrow, simply because we’d been aware for some time that our car wouldn’t perform particularly well on the Istanbul Park circuit’s higher-speed corners. Even so, with hindsight, perhaps we should have run Option tyres for Heikki’s second run in Q2 – some drivers did so and went faster as a result. On the other hand, other drivers stayed on Primes for their second Q2 runs and posted quick times on them. The fact is that, such is the level of competitiveness all through the field in modern-day Formula 1, it’s very difficult to get into Q3 if your car is in any way sub-optimal.”


NORBERT HAUG

Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“A poor result which reveals our weakness in fast sections. Whilst we are with the frontrunners in the final sector, with its long straight and tight corners, we lost more than a second around the rest of the circuit. It looked better yesterday, but today we have to accept the reality. We all need to work very hard to make sure that our level of competitiveness will improve sooner rather than later and that we come back to where we used to be.”

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Post by Ed » Mon Jun 08, 2009 1:25 am

2009 TURKISH GRAND PRIX

Istanbul Park, Sunday June 7

LEWIS HAMILTON - MP4-24-04

Started: 16th
Finished: 13th
Fastest lap: 1m28.562s (15th)
Pitstops: one (Pr-Op)

2009 points: 9 (11th)

Starting with a heavily fuelled car, Lewis was unable to start the race aggressively and slotted into 17th. Adopting a single-stop strategy from the off, he pushed hard throughout, always maximising the car’s potential and, by virtue of passing the two-stopping cars pitting ahead of him, worked his way up to 10th before making his sole pitstop on lap 32. Switching from the Prime to the Option tyre, he rejoined in 16th, was passed by Nelson Piquet but put in another strong stint to recover to 13th by the chequer.

“It was quite an uneventful race but I actually enjoyed myself this afternoon,” Lewis said. “I was very heavy at the start but I just pushed and pushed. That’s why I can smile – because I think I drove to my full potential.

“The most important thing is for us to keep our heads up and to keep pushing. I see my role from now on as helping the team to cure the problems with this year’s car and to make next year’s car the best it can possibly be. When the team gives me a car to win, I will win.

“Now we look ahead to Silverstone – I really wish Jenson all the best: he did a fantastic job today. Personally, I hope I can come away from my home race with a great feeling from my home fans. I hope they won’t give up supporting me.”

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN - MP4-24-03

Started: 14th
Finished: 14th
Fastest lap: 1m29.174s (18th)
Pitstops: two (Op-Pr-Op)

2009 points: 4 (13th)

Making a strong start, Heikki was able to slot into 11th by the end of the first lap, settling into an enthralling cat-and-mouse battle with Rubens Barrichello, who had slipped down the order at the start. Defending hard against the faster car, Heikki continually stayed ahead of Rubens, using his KERS to push back past on the startline after Rubens had nosed ahead out of the final corner. The dice concluded on lap eight when Rubens attempted to look up the inside into Turn Nine and the pair touched, pitching Heikki into a brief tank-slapper and Rubens into a harmless spin.

Thereafter, Heikki pitted on laps 19 and 42 and ran to the chequer in 14th after the team elected to reduce his engine settings to preserve the Mercedes-Benz motor.

“This was a character-building race for everybody in the team,” Heikki said afterwards. “At the start of the race, I really got the maximum out of the car and I’m pleased about that. I had a good fight with Rubens too – it was great to be racing hard and fair and it was very satisfying to keep a faster car at bay with some good old-fashioned racing tactics and also our KERS hybrid.

“In the final stint, the engineers elected to turn down the revs to protect my engine. Still, we have to be realistic: we finished 14th and we all know we can do better. We’ve had some great days in the past and we’ll continue to push hard to enjoy some great days in the future.”

MARTIN WHITMARSH

Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“In extremely frustrating circumstances, both Lewis and Heikki performed very impressively this afternoon. They both tried their hardest throughout the race, and we're grateful for their sterling efforts. Of course, it's frustrating that two such forceful drives went unrewarded in terms of world championship points, but the fact is that our car just isn't as quick as we'd like it to be. So, now, we'll go back to Woking and we'll work hard to rectify its deficiencies, but there's no magic cure. No, instead, the remedy will be found via hard work, and one thing our team isn't afraid of is hard work – which, it goes without saying, I'm also extremely grateful for. But, returning to the subject of today's race, the fact that Rubens, in an extremely competitive car, was unable to make anything of his afternoon once he’d got bogged down at the start, demonstrates all too clearly that, in modern-day Formula 1, as close-fought as it is, it’s more or less impossible to make useful progress from the back of the field. That may be frustrating, but it’s true nonetheless."

NORBERT HAUG
Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“We knew that this type of circuit would be difficult for us. Whereas the car works okay in sector three with its long straightaway and tight corners where we are as quick as anybody, we struggle massively on the quick parts of this racetrack. We have to make fundamental improvements and everybody in the team is aware of that. Thanks to Lewis and Heikki who both drove faultless races and extracted the maximum from their cars.

“The Brawn car and Jenson Button are in a league of their own – so none of their competitors can currently be satisfied and certainly we least. Congratulations for the sixth win from Jenson in the seventh race of the season and a big thank you to our engine guys who have put in a perfect effort so far.”

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Post by Ed » Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:35 pm

SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX PREVIEW

Lewis Hamilton

“The two greatest things about racing at Silverstone are the fans and the track itself. It’s great to see and meet people from all across the country and the world who have made the journey to Silverstone for the Santander British Grand Prix. When I’m in the car, I can actually see the fans around the circuit waving banners and cheering. It’s as if they were racing every lap with me – incredible!

“Driving the track is incredible too. I love Silverstone – it’s an amazing place to drive. Copse, Becketts and Bridge are all absolutely fantastic, flat-out corners that really show you the power and grip of a Formula 1 car. It’s a perfect place for the race, so let’s hope it’s not the last time we race at this track.”

Heikki Kovalainen

“Silverstone: what a fantastic circuit! I got my first Formula 1 pole position here last year and I remember how great the car was to drive on the limit. I love fast corners – it’s when a Formula 1 car really feels at its best and your whole body is just on the limit. While we know our car won’t be at its best through the fast corners, the challenge as a racing driver is to push to the limit so I’m just going to try my hardest. After a couple of disappointing races, it would be fantastic to get back into the points in one of the team’s home races.”

Martin Whitmarsh
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“Our home race has been highly successful for us in the past. We’ve won the British Grand Prix on 14 occasions – 12 of those wins coming at Silverstone. The most recent, of course, was Lewis’s fantastic victory in the rain last year – which stands as one of Formula 1’s greatest-ever wet weather drives. For this year, we come off a difficult race in Turkey, determined to do better in front of our home crowd.”


Norbert Haug
Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“Silverstone is a great track with a unique layout. We have fond memories of this traditional circuit with Lewis’s superb victory in the rain, more than a minute ahead of the second finisher last year, certainly being the most memorable moment. One year later, however, we will not be in a position to win. Since the beginning of this season we are in a catching up process. This is because we have not yet managed to get the best technical package out of the new rules in contrast to what we achieved with the old regulations in previous years when we built a winning car which we fought for the world championship with and won it.

“Nevertheless, everybody in the team is highly motivated to further reduce our gap to the top – particularly on fast circuits. We are currently experiencing tough times, but this is not new for us: after a year without victories in 2006 we missed our target to win the title by one point in 2007 and then, a year after, we clinched the world championship with Lewis in 2008. We all work in a calm, focused and concentrated way to get our job done. And we will manage to do so – but certainly not overnight.”

To celebrate his home race at the Santander British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton talks in detail through a lap of the Silverstone circuit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si9fBQzypEE

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Post by Ed » Sat Jun 20, 2009 7:03 am

2009 SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX – FREE PRACTICE ANALYSIS

Silverstone, Friday June 19

In order to explore the performance of MP4-24 to a fuller extent, the team has chosen to pursue differing paths for Lewis and Heikki over the course of the Silverstone weekend. Today’s practice was the most divergent of the season so far: on a track where the benefits of using KERS are less pronounced, Heikki’s engineers chose to continue running the system while Lewis’s team decided to focus on developing the most effective balance without it.

Also evaluated today were further modifications to the floor and front wing, the back-to-backing of tongued and standard static front hubs and the addition of new double-fin sidepod strakes.

LEWIS HAMILTON
MP4-24-04

P1 programme 26 laps 1m20.650s (8th)

Lewis spent the morning understanding the balance of the car and was encouraged by its consistency. He completed two installation laps and three runs, all on the Prime tyre, as he evaluated a series of new aero components. With the track starting off cold and slippery and the tyres requiring several laps to reach their optimum, Lewis spent the morning working down to a fast time. He completed runs of four laps/1m23.722s best; six laps/1m21.026s and seven laps/1m20.650s, ending the morning session eighth fastest.

“It took a while to get used to the car this morning,” he said. “It feels a little different from what we’ve been running in previous races. Generally, I’m very happy with the balance but, with a revised car and on a high-speed circuit like this, it takes a bit longer than usual to find the limit.”

P2 programme 35 laps 1m20.417s (7th)

Lewis’s opening five-lap run (1m21.181s) felt different from the pace shown this morning. Nonetheless, his second run, on Primes, was remarkably consistent, seeing him post the following eight-lap sequence: 1m22.572s, 1m22.736s, 1m21,826s, 1m21.862s, 1m21.768s, 1m24.032s, 1m21.644s and 1m21.688s. Two further runs on Options (10 laps/1m21.475s and four laps/1m20.417s) concluded his session.

“It’s no secret that we’re lacking speed in the faster sections,” Lewis concluded. “But the car wasn’t too bad today. The balance was good, we’ve made some set-up changes and it now appears to be fairly consistent. But this has already turned out to be one of the best weekends of the year for me because I’m at my home grand prix and the fans are incredible here – I’ve seen and felt their support from the very first lap I did today.”

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN
MP4-24-02

P1 programme 22 laps 1m21.029s (12th)

Heikki completed three runs this morning: five laps/1m22.779s;four laps/1m22.161s and six laps/1m21.029s. MP4-24’s lack of high-speed grip and its nervousness in the faster corners meant it was difficult to extract a strong time from the car, but Heikki felt the team made progress with its understanding of the car and its balance at high speed.

“Firstly, it’s great to be back at Silverstone because it’s a circuit I love,” Heikki said. “I got pole position last year and I really enjoy driving here. We know we face a tougher weekend this season because we’re lacking grip, but the balance of the car didn’t feel too bad this morning. As Lewis is running without KERS this weekend, we now have to analyse the balance of both cars and see what we’ll do for the rest of the weekend.”

P2 programme 37 laps 1m20.733s (12th)

Another busy session. Heikki started off on Primes (five laps/1m21.796s) and Options (three laps/1m20.859s) before starting his long-run programme, completing runs of seven laps (Primes/1m22.682s) and eight laps (Options/1m22.822s).

“We’re definitely making progress,” he said afterwards. “It’s still difficult to say whether it’s an advantage to be running KERS, but I felt I was getting a laptime benefit from the system. This weekend will be all about developing our car and seeing what difference the changes make to both Lewis’s and my pace. The whole team is pushing like crazy and we’re getting a better understanding of our car. Whatever happens, we are definitely going to learn a lot of useful things about the car this weekend.”

MARTIN WHITMARSH – team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“We’re fully aware that the characteristics of the Silverstone circuit don’t suit our technical package, but we have taken on an aggressive approach for the weekend, splitting our drivers’ development programmes to more fully understand the nature of the changes we’ve made to each car. We’ll learn some valuable lessons from this approach and are confident that it will pay dividends and allow us to mount an increasingly stronger challenge throughout Saturday and into Sunday’s race.”

NORBERT HAUG – vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

“Lewis today drove without KERS because Silverstone is a circuit where you do not brake too often: you get less of a benefit from the system here than you would on heavy-braking circuits. By way of comparison, Heikki used the system today and our specialists will analyse today’s results and decide whether we choose to continue using the system on his car for the rest of the weekend. Generally, this great circuit with lots of fast corners does not help our cars to be competitive.

“We need further dramatic improvements to come back to the position where we won five of the last 10 British Grands Prix – the last one in most convincing manner with Lewis last year.”

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