The fatalistic McLaren drivers

Since the start of the weekend, Lewis Hamilton keeps changing the settings of its car. The changes adopted during the night did not really bring satisfaction to the reigning World Champion. This was confirmed in qualifying with a 12th place on the grid, far from his ambitions. “We are where we need to be,” regrets Lewis Hamilton. “Currently, we are not performing well enough to reach Q3, yet the balance of our car does not seem so bad. We lack speed in corners. We expect improvements in the coming weeks? »

The situation is identical for his teammate, Heikki Kovalainen. “We knew it would be difficult for us to reach the top 10. So my result is more or less what we expected. The gap to the cars in front of us is smaller than in Australia, so I think we are going in the right direction. But we have not yet found the speed we lack. »

There is therefore work in perspective on the side of McLaren Mercedes, which Martin Whitmarsh recognizes. “We knew qualifying was going to be difficult, as our MP4-24 lacked the aerodynamic downforce to close the gap with the other teams. This result cannot be attributed to Lewis or Keikki who have given everything since the start of the weekend. They just lack grip in fast corners. We?re not really used to being in 12th and 14th place? However, we are confident that the developments we are preparing will allow us to fight in the tight clan of cars qualified for Q3. »