McLaren F1 will have to recover after Melbourne

Jenson Button and Sergio Pérez were unable to shine at the Australian Grand Prix. THE McLaren MP4-28 have been in difficulty since the start of the weekend in Melbourne, the Briton only qualifying in tenth place on the grid while Checo had to be content with 15th position. The drivers of the Woking team were not really able to improve their rank during the race since the 2009 world champion finished in ninth place while the Mexican crossed the finish line in 13th place.

McLaren's debut is very worrying for the British team. Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh can only see the lack of performance of the single-seaters and has difficulty hiding his concern as the next Grand Prix will take place next week at Sepang. “Jenson and Checo rode really well today. In difficult conditions, they did not make a single mistake and I would like to say well done to them. That being said, a ninth place and an eleventh position is not a result that meets our high expectations. The 2013 Australian Grand Prix will remain a particularly disappointing weekend for McLaren. Our car just wasn't fast enough and our drivers and engineers clearly did everything they could. We couldn't ask for more from them. The objective that now presents itself is simple even if it is not obvious. We will work very hard to improve the performance of the MP4-28. Our engineers are the best in this business and I am sure they will succeed. »

Discover the analysis of the Australian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in the next issue of AUTOhebdo, available from Tuesday in digital version for iPad, PC and Mac, and from Wednesday on newsstands.