Friday: The McLaren drivers are having a great time!

McLaren-Mercedes no longer has much at stake in Suzuka. This Japanese Grand Prix, the team wants to win, but above all wants to enjoy it. Both drivers, even in the rain, were able to complete a few laps today and are pleased.

Hamilton ran during both practice sessions with a car in wet configuration that shouldn’t be used for the rest of the weekend. Kovalainen, for his part, only drove in the morning to preserve his mechanics and above all to take no risks. A spin in the rain and the weekend could already be compromised. Both drivers are therefore waiting to run on dry conditions. Tomorrow’s Free Practice will be crucial.

Heikki Kovalainen – 1st and no time:

« This morning, the track was in much better condition than in the afternoon, which is why we decided not to run in FP2. We think the track will be dry in the coming days so we didn’t want to take any risks. »

« We actually felt no interest in driving. The morning performances were quite good, even with intermediate tires when the track was almost dry. I love this track; there are very good corners and the grip level is huge. In fact, it’s common to Japanese tracks. They have very good tarmac; it was the same at Fuji! »

Lewis Hamilton – 6th and 4th:

« It’s the best track I’ve ever driven on! It’s something special for me to drive here and I really had a good time today even though it rained constantly. We couldn’t race more – we weren’t even supposed to race in the afternoon but I couldn’t resist having a blast… »

« I heard that the track would be dry during the race, I’m just patiently waiting to go back out later on the dry and see how much we can push here. »

Martin Whitmarsh – Director:

« Firstly, it’s huge to be on the road at Suzuka since 2006. It’s a very comprehensive track that clearly draws the attention of our two drivers. The organizers have done a great job with the new facilities, creating a very classy setting while preserving the character of the circuit. »

« Although the bad weather made our progress difficult today, we are relatively close to our competitors and quite encouraged by that. Lewis [Hamilton] was immediately on pace while Heikki [Kovalainen] comfortably finished in P1. »

« Nevertheless, we still have a lot to do because of the weather. Tomorrow, we don’t really know what to expect, whereas it should be nice on Sunday for the race. We still need to find the right settings for a very uncertain qualifying session and a race that will undoubtedly be very eventful. »