Friday: McLaren is in the game in Brazil!
While all the spotlight is on Brawn GP and Red Bull, it is ultimately McLaren that could play the spoiler during this race weekend in Brazil. This Friday on the Interlagos track, the McLaren drivers were performing well and completed their program. The future looks promising. Lewis Hamilton is in the top 10 in both […]
While all the spotlight is on Brawn GP and Red Bull, it is ultimately McLaren that could play the spoiler during this race weekend in Brazil. This Friday on the Interlagos track, the McLaren drivers were performing well and completed their program. The future looks promising.
Lewis Hamilton is in the top 10 in both practice sessions, while Heikki Kovalainen recorded a strong fourth fastest time in the morning. The KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) could play a decisive role, especially in qualifying. Before that, the team will have one last test to perfectly adjust the car to the Brazilian track during FP3.
Lewis Hamilton – 5th and 10th:
« We had a good Friday. We are not the fastest, but our long runs seem quite consistent. The Red Bulls are ahead of us, but for a circuit like Interlagos, where we are usually at a disadvantage, we are quite satisfied. In the past, we have always been fast in qualifying, but not as fast in the race. The KERS gives us nearly four tenths in qualifying and about half of that in the race. So I am optimistic for tomorrow afternoon, and I think the consistency we showed today will reward us in the race. »
Heikki Kovalainen – 4th and 17th:
« A productive day. The times this afternoon don’t necessarily show it, but we made good progress today. We followed a program focusing on our race pace and evaluating both tire compounds. Our pace on both types of tires seems to be very good, and we experienced very limited degradation, so I think our race pace will be good. »
Martin Whitmarsh – Team Director:
« First of all, it’s a great moment to be back in Brazil, and particularly here at Interlagos. I have some very happy memories for the whole team, and they resurfaced as soon as we arrived this morning when the sessions started. Interlagos is not normally a circuit where our race pace is good, but today’s performances certainly showed a remarkable level of consistency. We are confident that this will continue in the race on Sunday. Today’s times also show that the pace of both Red Bulls seems impressive, but we will have a competitive race car for this weekend.
