Season's First Qualifying: McLaren secures One-Two

Australia GP 2012 on F1 Fans Forum

Lewis Hamilton got McLaren's bid to topple Red Bull in the 2012 Formula 1 title race off to a flying start as he took a commanding pole position for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, ahead of team-mate Jenson Button, while world champion Sebastian Vettel was only sixth.

Hamilton's 1m24.922s lap in Q3 put him 0.7 seconds clear of his rivals at first, and proved unbeatable.

Romain Grosjean took a spectacular third for Lotus on his F1 return, while Michael Schumacher achieved his best qualifying result for Mercedes in fourth, and the Red Bulls had to settle for row three, with Mark Webber outqualifying Vettel.

Further back, Ferrari's fears of an awful start to the campaign came true as neither of its cars reached the top 10, and Kimi Raikkonen's F1 comeback got off to a surprisingly bad start as he was eliminated in Q1.

Hamilton looked assured of pole after his first Q3 run, and although his rivals closed in, none could match his time.

Instead they fought over second place, which changed hands in quick succession in the closing moments as Webber - who chose to do just one Q3 run - Schumacher, Grosjean and finally Button took turns to close in on Hamilton.

Vettel never looked like being a pole contender and his sixth place was his worst qualifying result since he took the same position at Monza in 2010.

Mercedes had appeared like a pole threat as it led the way in Q2, but Schumacher and team-mate Nico Rosberg had to be content with fourth and seventh.

Neither Ferrari got beyond Q2. Fernando Alonso spun into the Turn 1 gravel after his first run in the middle segment, causing a brief red flag. Fifth at the time, he could only furiously watch as others pushed him down to 12th.

But that was still better than Felipe Massa could manage. The Brazilian was a second off his team-mate in both Q1 (which he only just squeezed out of) and Q2, despite having more runs than the sidelined Alonso. Massa ended up 16th.

Raikkonen's disastrous first qualifying session back in F1 was the final big story of the afternoon. The Finn made a mistake on his last Q1 run then backed off thinking he had time for another flying lap, only to run out of seconds and strand his Lotus in 18th.

At the tail end of the Q3 field, Pastor Maldonado gave Williams huge encouragement after its tough 2011 season with eighth place, and Nico Hulkenberg claimed ninth for Force India in his first race back after a year as reserve.

Daniel Ricciardo made sure that both F1's Australians will start from the top 10 as he got his Toro Rosso into the pole shoot-out, although he did not complete a flying lap in Q3. Jean-Eric Vergne only just missed joining his team-mate in Q3, lapping a tenth slower as he secured 11th for his maiden grand prix start.

Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi set a surprise fastest time in Q1, but could not replicate that performance and qualified only 13th. Team-mate Sergio Perez lines up 17th after failing to set a Q2 time due to gearbox problems.

Bruno Senna (Williams) and Paul di Resta (Force India) were outperformed by their Q3-bound team-mates and were only 14th and 15th.

The tail of the field looked much like 2011. Caterham was some way off Q2 pace but clearly ahead of Marussia, while the HRTs failed to make the 107 per cent cut-off time, with Narain Karthikeyan also blocking Alonso along the way.

Pos Driver Team Time
1 Hamilton McLaren 1'24.922
2 Button McLaren 1'25.074
3 Grosjean Lotus 1'25.302
4 Schumacher Mercedes 1'25.336
5 Webber Red Bull 1'25.651
6 Vettel Red Bull 1'25.668
7 Rosberg Mercedes 1'25.686
8 Maldonado Williams 1'25.908
9 Hülkenberg Force India 1'26.451
10 Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1'26.319
11 Vergne Toro Rosso 1'26.429
12 Alonso Ferrari 1'26.494
13 Kobayashi Sauber 1'26.590
14 Senna Williams 1'26.663
15 di Resta Force India 1'27.086
16 Massa Ferrari 1'27.497
17 Perez Sauber 1'26.596
18 Räikkönen Lotus 1'27.758
19 Kovalainen Caterham 1'28.679
20 Petrov Caterham 1'29.018
21 Glock Marussia 1'30.923
22 Pic Marussia 1'31.670
23 de la Rosa HRT 1'33.495
24 Karthikeyan HRT 1'33.643

Autosport

© 2012 AUTOSPORT.COM

Hamilton fastest in Australia GP 2012 Free Practice 2

Lewis Hamilton put McLaren on top of the times in final practice for the Australian Grand Prix, in a session that saw world champion Sebastian Vettel spin into the gravel.

Hamilton waited until the final minute to complete his flyer, stopping the clock at 1m25.681s to outpace the Lotus of Romain Grosjean, second quickest.

Red Bull's Mark Webber was third quickest, while team-mate Sebastian Vettel finished down in seventh after spinning off with 15 minutes of the session left.

Hamilton's team-mate Jenson Button was fourth fastest, the Briton followed by Mercedes duo Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher.

Track conditions improved vastly compared to yesterday's sessions, which were hit by rain, and final practice took place on a dry track under clear skies. That meant teams took full advantage of the 60 minutes in order to make up for the time lost yesterday.

Teams had an extra set of tyres available following yesterday's rain-hit practice.

After the initial installation laps from all drivers, Rosberg was the first man to attempt a timed lap five minutes into the session, but the German ran wide at the first corner. The same happened to team-mate Schumacher just seconds later but this time at Turn 2.

Rosberg still set the early benchmark initially with a 1m26.982, the quickest lap of the weekend at that point. The Mercedes driver remained on top of the times until the 17-minute mark, when Hamilton completed his first flying lap to relegate his rival to second.

The Briton did not last long as pace-setter, however, as Schumacher went quickest just seconds later, moments after the yellow flags were deployed when Felipe Massa spun at the penultimate corner. The Brazilian recovered straight away.

Rosberg returned to the top at the 23-minute mark with the first lap of the weekend in the 1m25s, outpacing Schumacher by three tenths of a second. A minute later the yellow flags were back out as Bruno Senna lost control of his Williams at the penultimate corner, spinning into the grass and driving straight back into the pits.

Vettel's session came to an early finishing when he lost control of his car at Turn 6, the German spinning into the gravel. His Red Bull got stuck in the gravel and the world champion was unable to return to the track, continuing with his difficult start to the weekend.

Grosjean jumped to first place with seven minutes remaining as the teams began to run with the softer Pirelli compound. Schumacher's session came to a halt a minute later when he spun into the gravel at Turn 9. The yellow flags ruined some of his rivals' runs.

With a minute to go, Hamilton put his McLaren at the head of the times with a time 0.077 seconds quicker than Grosjean, including the best time in sector three.

Pedro de la Rosa managed his first timed lap of the weekend in the HRT, the Spaniard struggling with power steering problems to finish nearly 10 seconds off the pace. With the 107 per cent cut-off time expected to be around 1m31s, both de la Rosa and team-mate Narain Karthikeyan face a tough battle to qualify for the race.

Pos  Driver                Team                  Time               Laps
 1.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m25.681s           18
 2.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m25.758s  + 0.077  21
 3.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m25.900s  + 0.219  20
 4.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m25.906s  + 0.225  17
 5.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m25.929s  + 0.248  23
 6.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m26.078s  + 0.397  14
 7.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m26.211s  + 0.530  12
 8.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m26.470s  + 0.789  17
 9.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m26.632s  + 0.951  20
10.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m26.723s  + 1.042  17
11.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m26.733s  + 1.052  15
12.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m26.737s  + 1.056  19
13.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m26.755s  + 1.074  21
14.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1m27.029s  + 1.348  23
15.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault      1m27.119s  + 1.438  20
16.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m27.323s  + 1.642  19
17.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1m27.428s  + 1.747  22
18.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m28.023s  + 2.342  19
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1m28.341s  + 2.660  19
20.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1m28.702s  + 3.021  11
21.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1m30.728s  + 5.047  13
22.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1m31.225s  + 5.544  14
23.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1m33.114s  + 7.433  12
24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1m33.261s  + 7.580  13

All Timing Unofficial

Autosport

© 2012 AUTOSPORT.COM

Button fastest in Australia GP 2012 Free Practice 1

Jenson Button led a McLaren one-two in the first free practice session of the 2012 Formula 1 season in Melbourne.

Damp conditions early on meant relatively little serious running until the final half an hour, with Button going quickest by 0.245 seconds over team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

Michael Schumacher was third for Mercedes, followed by Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and home hero Mark Webber (Red Bull).

World champion Sebastian Vettel was a quiet 11th in the second Red Bull.

Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne had the honour of leading the field out for the first time in an official session in 2012, and the Frenchman and team-mate Daniel Ricciardo had the track largely to themselves at first - choosing to rack up laps while the circuit was still drying, whereas most waited in the pits until conditions improved.

It was Ricciardo who duly logged the season's first flying lap with a 1m47.448s after 20 minutes.

Nearly an hour passed before the Albert Park circuit was in good enough shape for slick tyres. Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi - who by that time was the fastest man on intermediates - led the move to dry tyres and blew his previous benchmark away by just over five seconds.

Webber then deposed Kobayashi, who grabbed the top spot back again, but only momentarily before Schumacher began a long stint in first place, which lasted until Button put in his session-topping 1m27.560s with nine minutes to go.

Hamilton then joined his team-mate at the front with a lap 0.245s slower in the closing moments, pushing Schumacher back to third.

Alonso escaped a massive slide at the final corner on his last lap to take fourth, but his Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa ended the morning in the gravel after putting a wheel on the grass under braking for Turn 9 with 13 minutes to go, sending the Brazilian spinning.

Nico Rosberg completed the top six for Mercedes, followed by Ricciardo, Pastor Maldonado's Williams, Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus and Kobayashi. Raikkonen only got out in the final few minutes after a long pause in the Lotus garage having his steering rack changed.

HRT endured what has become its traditional very tough start to an F1 season with neither car setting a flying lap. Pedro de la Rosa's machine was not ready in time to leave the pits during the session, while rising engine temperatures led to Narain Karthikeyan's car cutting out on the backstretch after 32 minutes.


Pos  Driver                Team                   Time               Laps
 1.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1m27.560s            11
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes       1m27.805s  + 0.245   14
 3.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes               1m28.235s  + 0.675   17
 4.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                1m28.360s  + 0.800   21
 5.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault       1m28.467s  + 0.907   21
 6.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes               1m28.683s  + 1.123   22
 7.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m28.908s  + 1.348   23
 8.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault       1m29.415s  + 1.855   16
 9.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault          1m29.565s  + 2.005    8
10.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari         1m29.722s  + 2.162   26
11.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault       1m29.790s  + 2.230   21
12.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes   1m29.865s  + 2.305   17
13.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes   1m29.881s  + 2.321   18
14.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault       1m29.953s  + 2.393   21
15.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari         1m30.124s  + 2.564   22
16.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault          1m30.515s  + 2.955   16
17.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault       1m30.586s  + 3.026   16
18.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari                1m30.743s  + 3.183   11
19.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1m31.178s  + 3.618   17
20.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault       1m31.983s  + 4.423    8
21.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth      1m34.730s  + 7.170    8
22.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth      1m40.256s  + 12.696  11
23.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth           no time               3
24.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth           no time               0

All Timing Unofficial

Autosport

© 2012 AUTOSPORT.COM

McLaren launched the MP4-27

McLaren has launched its 2012 car - the MP4-27 - at the McLaren Technology Centre.

The car is an evolution of the MP4-26 which took six victories in 2011, with the team hoping to close the gap to Red Bull this year. The car features a different front end solution to the Caterham that was launched last week, with a gradual transition between the lower nose and chassis. The sculpted sidepods that were prominent on the MP4-26 have also been redesigned, while the car features a neater rear end than the 2011 car.

The new car will be driven for the first time by Oliver Turvey during a straigh-line test ahead of its track debut on Tuesday at the first pre-season test in Jerez, with Jenson Button at the wheel for the first two days before handing over to Lewis Hamilton.

Button hoping for 'further step forwards'

Jenson Button says that he is hoping the new McLaren MP4-27 will provide the team with "a further step forwards in 2012".

McLaren won six grands prix in 2011 with Button and team-mate Lewis Hamilton securing three victories each. Despite those wins, Sebastian Vettel was dominant in the Red Bull winning six of the first seven races before McLaren could mount any sustained challenge. As a result, Button said that he hoped that the new car could build on the progress made towards the end of last season with the MP4-26.

"With the regulations remaining relatively stable, we've really been able to focus on the detail with this year's car," Button said. "I still think we had a very fast package last year - it was very strong in certain areas - and our race pace was almost always fantastic, but we're hoping for a further step forwards in 2012. With Mercedes-Benz, I think we also had the best overall engine and KERS Hybrid package in the pitlane.

"We were also able to continuously develop throughout the year to match Red Bull - and that shows that we have the knowledge, effort and resources to sustain our efforts across the course of a whole season, which can be crucial. I know that the whole team is extremely proud of the MP4-27. It may look like a direct evolution of last year's car, but we've analysed every area of performance over the winter and the whole car has benefited from lots of fresh thinking and new ideas in every area."

Button also admitted that after the difficulties of the 2011 pre-season it would be important to maximise the potential of the car early on.

"I'm really looking forward to getting behind the wheel in Spain next week. I know that everyone will be watching us very closely to see what progress we make during the pre-season tests, but I genuinely believe we have every reason to feel optimistic about the progress we've made and our competitiveness this year."

Hamilton 'hungry' after winter break

Lewis Hamilton insists that he is "so hungry" to start the new season after recharging during the winter break.

Despite taking three victories Hamilton suffered a difficult year in 2011 as issues in his personal life started to affect his performance on-track. Having been beaten by a team-mate across a season in Formula One for the first time, Hamilton admitted that it had been "great to get away from everything".

"The winter has been a great opportunity to recharge," Hamilton said. "I got away into the mountains, spent a lot of time hiking and running, improving my fitness and starting to prepare for the New Year. It's always great to get away from everything; change the scenery. And what's great about Formula 1 is that you start each season with the baseline completely reset - everybody starts again from zero - and that always makes me so hungry."

Hamilton admitted that while he was away he kept in close contact with the team to monitor the progress of the MP4-27.

"I've been keenly following the development of MP4-27 over the winter and I've been really encouraged by the results and the data that the engineers have been showing me. I think we already had a very strong base to build upon: Jenson and I won six races with MP4-26 last year and I think we've been able to retain all the strengths and the reliability of that design while also incorporating lots of improvements and new ideas into the new car.

"Of course, the biggest changes for 2012 are the modifications to the exhaust regulations - that will reduce the downforce and grip that we had last year, but it just puts the emphasis on the designers to try and claw some of that back in other areas. I get the feeling the MP4-27 is going to feel very new and exciting when we get to drive it for the first time."

ESPNF1

 

McLaren denies PURE engine switch

McLaren has played down rumours it will switch engine supplier in 2014 

McLaren has played down reports that its cars could be powered by PURE engines in 2014.

Former BAR team principal Craig Pollock is behind the PURE project and is targeting at least two customers for his new turbo V6 engine by 2014. Reports in Italy linked McLaren to a potential deal, but the team moved swiftly to deny a linkup.

"McLaren has had absolutely no contact with PURE for many months," a McLaren spokesman toldReuters. "Moreover, the contact we did have with PURE, many months ago, was of an entirely informal nature, and was merely a courtesy gesture."

In late November, reports linked McLaren with rumours Honda is looking to return to F1 in 2014 as an engine supplier, but when asked about the rumours managing director Jonathan Neale told ESPNF1: "That's all wide of the mark.

"We are wedded to, very happy with and enjoying our partnership with Mercedes-Benz. We're not quite sure how or where that broke from in truth, but I can stop the rumours and say we are entirely focused on the Mercedes-Benz relationship. We've had a long standing relationship with them, with many wins and championships and long may that continue."

ESPNF1

McLaren pair 'raring to go' - Whitmarsh

Martin Whitmarsh says that both Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton are "raring to go" ahead of the start of pre-season testing.

Following a difficult winter testing campaign in 2011 when the MP4-26 looked clearly off the pace, McLaren was left playing catch-up to Red Bull and was unable to provide a stern challenge in the drivers' and constructors' championships. This year's tests have therefore taken on an added importance, and Whitmarsh told the official Formula One website that both drivers would have the same opportunity to get the most out of the new car.

"As you'd expect, with pre-season testing as restricted as it is nowadays, our race drivers will be doing as much as they can," Whitmarsh said. "Both Jenson and Lewis will consequently be spending a lot of time in Spain over the next few weeks, and both of them are raring to go. We're fortunate that we have two world champions in our driver line-up - a claim that can be made by no other team - and McLaren's ethos has always been, and remains, to treat both its drivers as equal number-ones. That's what we've always done, that's what we'll do this year, and as long as I'm around that's what we'll always do."

Speaking specifically about the new car, Whitmarsh said that not knowing how competitive the other teams will be made any progress hard to judge.

"At this time of year, before testing has begun, you never know how well your car is going to perform relative to its principal opposition. And I'm well aware that Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes AMG, as well as all the other teams, are working just as hard on their 2012 cars as we are. But, bearing in mind that unknown variable - in other words the performance of our competitors' cars - all I can say with any certainty is that the MP4-27 is a logical evolution of the MP4-26, adapted to the new technical regulations, and that from what we can discern its development is going in the right direction."

ESPNF1

McLaren 'taking controlled risk'

McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale says that the team is "taking controlled risk" as it builds towards the new season.

With Red Bull having had the fastest car for the 2011 season, McLaren is hoping to close the gap with the new MP4-27 this year. Until the first test at Jerez in February the teams don't know how competitive their cars are relative to the competition, and Neale said that he expected to see a number of different ideas when the new cars finally hit the track.

"We're in the business of taking controlled risk," Neale said at the Autosport International Show. "F1 is not a business where you can afford to relax at any moment of time. At the moment, we have no idea of the competition. There will be various interpretations of the rules as set out by the FIA, as we saw at the beginning of last year.

"Look at what Renault did. They took an innovative approach to where they exited the exhausts by blowing the front of the floor and that stood them in good stead because they stood on the podium at the start of last year."

However, Neale warned that starting the season with a quick car would not be enough to challenge for the title, merely the first step towards it.

"If you don't keep that relentless pressure of development up, you go backwards. Red Bull, Ferrari, ourselves and Mercedes have, over the years, got quite good at that development."

Having endured a difficult pre-season testing programme last year, Neale admitted that McLaren is having to make sure it doesn't prevent it from taking risks with the new car.

"We stumbled badly last year and got into some reliability issues with the car, maybe we took too big a bite on some things that we paid dearly for. Over the winter, we didn't get the maximum use of that precious testing time. Of course that is in our mind at the moment, but you can't be defensive. If you want to win races, you've got to push really hard. We must not be risk averse and not do these kinds of projects."

ESPNF1

Button has built strong team around him, says Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton says that team-mate Jenson Button was able to perform so well last season because of his relationship with his technical team.

Button finished second in last year's drivers' championship standings and outscored team-mate Hamilton by a comprehensive 43 points, surprising many experts who expected the 2008 champion to come out on top in the team battle.

But Button's wily race craft, combined with many uncharacteristic mistakes from Hamilton, saw the man from Frome come out on top.

"Jenson is very quick and he's gathered a strong team of technicians around him," said Hamilton in La Gazzetta dello Sport. "I'd like to be ahead of him all the time, and I'm not happy if the opposite happens."

Despite being beaten by a team-mate for the first time in his Formula One career, Hamilton says there is a healthy competitive relationship between the drivers.

"However, psychologically it's absolutely not a problem. Besides, he's an open and cheerful guy who I get along with. It would be nice to fight for the 2012 championship with him -- that's just up to McLaren."

ESPNF1

New McLaren to run at first test

The MP4-26 proved to be difficult to master
during pre-season testing in 2011 © Getty Images

McLaren has announced that the new MP4-27 will run for the first time at the first pre-season test in Jerez.

The test takes place from February 7-9, and McLaren has confirmed that the car will be launched on February 1 but does not reveal the location. It marks a change from 2011, when the team evaluated the Pirelli tyres at the first test in Valencia before launching the MP4-26 ahead of the second test in an attempt to get the maximum development time for the car.

With just three pre-season tests, however, McLaren wants to get as much track time as possible in an attempt to challenge Red Bull from the start of the season. It will join Red Bull, Ferrari, Sauber and Williams in launching its car prior to the first test.

Only Mercedes has so far confirmed that it will wait until the second test on February 21 as it looks to exploit the two-week gap between tests to find performance.

ESPNF1

Hamilton defends management team

Lewis Hamilton has defended his management team after Bernie Ecclestone branded the way he was being managed a "disaster".

Hamilton signed with XIX Entertainment in early 2011 having split from his father Anthony the year before. However, after a difficult year in which off-track issues appeared to be affecting Hamilton's performance in races, Ecclestone said that his management team was not a good fit and that "I think he just fell into a lot of people that I think weren't good for him".

But Hamilton told The Guardian  that the criticism was "massively unfair", and that he's been more in control of the situation than it may appear to some outsiders.

"[It's] my fault really," Hamilton said. "They've wanted to be here every single race, they've been nothing but supportive. I control it and I decided not to have them at every race because I wanted to be on my own at some races. For the future I'll have them at every race."

ESPNF1

McLaren Mercedes - Brazilian Grand Prix Preview

Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Martin Whitmarsh on the Brazilian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton

“Winning in Abu Dhabi last week was a fantastic feeling, and it’s made me even more determined to finish the 2011 season with a victory. It would be great to go into the winter off the back of another win, so that’ll be my aim next weekend.


“It’s rare for there to be a straightforward race at Interlagos – particularly if the weather plays a role. I hear it’s been raining heavily in Sao Paulo at the moment – if it rains on Sunday, anything could happen. I remember having one of my best races in Formula 1 there in 2009 when I qualified 17th in seriously wet conditions, but raced up to third by the chequered flag. I spent the whole race overtaking people – it was brilliant.

“Of course, for Jenson and myself, Interlagos is the circuit where we won the world championship, so it will always hold some happy memories for us. In fact, I’ve only been here once [in 2009] when I wasn’t in contention for the championship. This year, with both titles already wrapped up, I want to enjoy myself: and I think we have the car to once again make a difference – we’ll pick up where we left off in Abu Dhabi, I hope.

“I think we’re all set for a great end to the 2011 championship: Interlagos is a fantastic circuit, one of the best on the calendar, and I think the combination of KERS Hybrid and DRS, plus the possibility of wet weather, mean we’re all set for a fascinating race.”

Jenson Button

“You’re struck by the sense of history whenever you go to Interlagos. There’s the bust of Carlos Pace on the way in to the circuit, and so many great drivers have come from here – including two McLaren world champions, Emerson Fittipaldi and Ayrton Senna. It’s such a unique place: it’s always an exciting experience to be racing around in the bowl with the packed grandstands looking down on you.

“There are a lot of physical challenges to overcome at Interlagos. It’s a busy lap with a lot of corners and gradients. I can only imagine what it must have been like to race here in the 1970s when it was twice as long but still packed into the same amount of space. Although it’s not the only anti-clockwise circuit on the calendar, the combination of bumps, gradients and corner speeds put a lot of stress on neck muscles that are more used to turning right than turning left.

“KERS Hybrid will play an important role at this circuit because there is quite a short drag from the start line to the first corner. Towards the end of the lap you’ve got a long uphill section out of the final corner and the power will certainly help there, too. And, if you can’t get past into the first corner, then I definitely think you’ll be able to close up along the start/finish straight and then have a look at passing on the short straight ahead of Turn Four, using DRS.

“I think we proved in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago that Vodafone McLaren Mercedes still wants to win races even though both championships are now settled. Certainly I’m determined to win my fourth grand prix of the year, even if it means fighting all the way to the last lap of the last race.”

Martin Whitmarsh


Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“While everybody at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes is extremely proud of Lewis’s dominant victory in Abu Dhabi, we’ve already switched focus to Brazil and are relishing the prospect of taking home back-to-back wins with which to end our 2011 season.

“Many of the recent races in Brazil have been complex, fascinating and gripping, particularly for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: in 2007, we came within a hair’s breadth of winning the title with either driver; the following year, Lewis so memorably snatched the title at the very final corner; in ’09, as Jenson blazed to the title, while Lewis drove with incredible commitment to finish on the podium. Last year, we held on to our championship aspirations with a double points finish.

“A victory here would be particularly satisfying. In fact, we’re keen to take our seventh win of the season here. Lewis and Jenson have now scored three wins apiece this year and each of them are equally motivated to take their fourth. From a team management perspective, that’s an excellent position for us to be in.”

McLaren.com

Honda engine rumours 'wide of the mark' - McLaren

McLaren has denied reports it is looking to enter into an engine partnership with Honda in 2014.

A report over the weekend in Auto Motor und Sportsaid McLaren was looking to enter into a works engine deal with the Japanese manufacturer when the new 1.6-litre turbo engine regulations come into force in three years' time. The two marques enjoyed a very successful partnership between 1988 and 1992 with four championship victories, but McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale denied there has been any contact between the two.

"That's all wide of the mark," he told ESPNF1 during the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes phone-in. "We are wedded to, very happy with and enjoying our partnership with Mercedes-Benz. We're not quite sure how or where that [news] broke from in truth, but I can stop the rumours and say we are entirely focused on the Mercedes-Benz relationship. We've had a long standing relationship with them, with many wins and championships and long may that continue."

Mercedes-Benz has been supplying engines to McLaren since 1995 and became a shareholder in the team in 1999, but over recent years McLaren has bought that share back and Mercedes has bought its own F1 team. Reports suggest that McLaren will have to pay for its Mercedes-Benz engines from 2013 onwards, while its main rivals will have either a works engine deal (in the case of Red Bull) or in-house engine departments (in the case of Ferrari and Mercedes). But Neale insists McLaren, which has a supply deal with Mercedes-Benz until 2015, can still be competitive as a customer team.

"I don't think that's a concern," he said. "Of course, Mercedes have their own GP team and it's right and proper that a degree of focus is going to go in that direction, but I was just talking this morning with Thomas Fuhr at Mercedes-Benz - we speak frequently - and we want the same things. It's in our interest to have consistent engines together because that's how we get the highest quality.

"Mercedes managed to get six cars [using its engines] in the top ten in qualifying in Abu Dhabi, and they take real pleasure and delight in that and so they should. But of course we like to beat them all as well, so that works for us. We make a healthy technical contribution and they are a formidable technical partner in the engine stakes and we enjoy that relationship."

ESPNF1

McLaren must start 2012 quickly - Whitmarsh

Martin Whitmarsh says McLaren must be winning races from the start of the 2012 season in order to challenge for the drivers' and constructors' championships.

Lewis Hamilton's victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last weekend was McLaren's sixth of the season, but came three races after Sebastian Vettel had secured the drivers' title and two after Red Bull was crowned constructor's champions. Speaking at the opening of the new McLaren Production Centre at the team's headquarters, Whitmarsh said that the problem had been a slow start to the season, and that McLaren couldn't afford the same in 2012.

"We're very proud of the performance at the weekend in Abu Dhabi to win that race," Whitmarsh said. "That brings us to six victories, and obviously we'd like to make it seven (in Brazil) before the end of this year. But by the high standards of McLaren this has not been a vintage year. We've secured second place in the constructors' championship, but clearly we want to win more races than this.

"We had a slow start this year, so we have to get out of the blocks quickly and effectively at the start of next year to make sure we are winning races straightaway. We've two great drivers, a fantastic team of men and women here who are continuously innovative and moving us forward to be competitive. So we're optimistic about next year. If we weren't then we would have to change something because we are here to win."

Managing director Jonathan Neale said that the team doesn't win enough titles, but that it needs to "graft" over the winter to ensure it is in a stronger position at the start of next season.

"We've consistently won races, we're consistently on the podium, but we don't win championships enough and that's a frustration," Neale said. "We love winning races, but we need to win more championships. We have shown we can out-develop and stay close to everybody, but we have to get out of the blocks, start quick. We do that with graft. Lewis and Jenson, as back-to-back world champions, deserve the best, so that's a clear target."

ESPNF1

Hamilton underestimated Button - Whitmarsh

Martin Whitmarsh says that Lewis Hamilton underestimated Jenson Button when the latter joined McLaren in 2010.

Button's third place in Abu Dhabi confirmed his position as the top-scoring McLaren driver for 2011, the first time that Hamilton has been beaten by a team-mate across a season since making his Formula One debut. With Hamilton recently disagreeing with Whitmarsh that Button's success was affecting his own form, Whitmarsh was asked if he felt Hamilton underestimated Button when they became team-mates.

"Possibly. He probably did, yes," Whitmarsh told the official Formula One website. "Let's be open about it. Lewis, throughout his career, has destroyed every team mate that's come his way. Bear in mind that in many ways he virtually destroyed Fernando Alonso when Fernando was a two-time world champion and Lewis was a rookie. He did the same with Nico Rosberg in karting frankly - and every other team mate on his way into Formula One."

Many commentators believed that Button's move to McLaren would be a mistake, with it regarded as Hamilton's team. Whitmarsh said that Hamilton probably expected to beat Button in the same car, but that the team had left them free to race each other and Button's pace would have come as a surprise.

"He was disarmed by Jenson at the beginning and he probably thought that he was a nice guy, but he'd beat him. And he was probably surprised. Jenson on the other hand is of course also keen to beat his team mate but he would never do it in an underhand manner. For both drivers it's true that there are no politics involved and both want to contribute equally to the team.

"Of course when you join a team as a driver and know that I have known Lewis since he was 11 you might question whether you would be treated equally. But all the talk about who is the number-one driver in the team is media-made, as McLaren have always been a team that let their drivers race. That is our spirit and we remain true to it."

ESPNF1

'It was one of my best races' - Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton labelled his victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as one of his best races and said he could fly back home happy after the race.

Over recent weeks Hamilton has revealed that he has been struggling with problems in his private life and has not looked in contention for a race win since his last victory at the German Grand Prix in July. However, he said his win in Abu Dhabi, in which he held off Fernando Alonso's Ferrari for 55 laps, was a huge boost.

"I feel fantastic, I really feel that it was one of my best races and I said that to myself as I slowed down [after the race]," he said. "Just being able to hold off one of the best drivers in the world throughout the race is something that is very, very tough to do - just looking after the tyres and managing the gaps. Obviously the team did a fantastic job in the pit stops … but I'm ecstatic and really very happy to be back up here. This is great, I can get on my flight tonight and smile."

Hamilton dedicated the victory to his mother, who made the journey out to Abu Dhabi to celebrate her birthday.

"It's my mum's birthday this weekend and it's great to be able to win while she's here," he added.

ESPNF1

Hamilton dominates the Abu Dhabi GP as Sebastian Vettel retires

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton ended a victory drought stretching back to July by winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - after world champion Sebastian Vettel retired on the very first lap due to damage from a puncture.

Fernando Alonso was a close second for Ferrari, with Jenson Button completing the podium despite KERS issues on his McLaren.

Vettel had surged into a clear lead from pole at the first corner, but just one bend later his Red Bull was slewing into a wild spin as its right rear tyre deflated. The champion tried to nurse his car back to the pits, but the flailing rubber had already done too much damage, so Vettel posted his first retirement since last year's Korean GP.

That put Hamilton into the lead, with Alonso in second having passed Mark Webber (Red Bull) at the start and then gone around the outside of Button at the end of the back straight to secure second.

There was little to choose between the McLaren and Ferrari for most of the rest of the race - with the gap sometimes barely more than a second. Ferrari tried to gain an advantage by running longer before Alonso's second stop, but to no avail, and in the final stint Hamilton's lead grew to more comfortable levels as he headed towards his third win of an often-troubled 2011 season.

After losing time with a stubborn wheel at his first stop, Webber tried to regain ground with a three-stop strategy that saw him only change to the harder Pirellis on the very last lap. That did not allow him to beat Button - with whom he had battled fiercely for much of the race - but he did take fourth, helped by Felipe Massa's challenge fading when the Ferrari had a quick spin with six laps to go. The Brazilian quickly rejoined to take fifth.

Mercedes duo Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher had a spectacular early battle, won by the younger German, who went on to take sixth. Schumacher narrowly beat Force India's Adrian Sutil to seventh. Sutil's team-mate Paul di Resta and Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi completed the points scorers, the former pulling off a one-stop strategy.

Just outside the top 10, Rubens Barrichello ended Williams's awful weekend on a slightly brighter note by charging from the back of the grid to 12th, right on 11th-placed Sauber driver Sergio Perez's tail.

PROVISIONAL RACE RESULTS

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Yas Marina, United Arab Emirates;
55 laps; 305.355km;
Weather: Clear.

Classified:

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time
 1.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           1h37:11.886
 2.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +     8.457
 3.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    25.881
 4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    35.784
 5.  Massa         Ferrari                    +    50.578
 6.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    52.317
 7.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +  1:15.900
 8.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +  1:17.100
 9.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +  1:40.000
10.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
11.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
12.  Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap
13.  Petrov        Renault                    +     1 lap
14.  Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth          +     1 lap
15.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
16.  Senna         Renault                    +     1 lap
17.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault              +     1 lap
18.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
19.  Glock         Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps
20.  Liuzzi        HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Webber, 1:42.612

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Ricciardo     HRT-Cosworth                 49
Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari           19
D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth              18
Vettel        Red Bull-Renault             1


World Championship standings, round 18:                

Drivers:                    Constructors:             
 1.  Vettel       374        1.  Red Bull-Renault          607
 2.  Button       255        2.  McLaren-Mercedes          482
 3.  Alonso       245        3.  Ferrari                   353
 4.  Webber       233        4.  Mercedes                  159
 5.  Hamilton     227        5.  Renault                    72
 6.  Massa        108        6.  Force India-Mercedes       57
 7.  Rosberg       83        7.  Sauber-Ferrari             42
 8.  Schumacher    76        8.  Toro Rosso-Ferrari         41
 9.  Petrov        36        9.  Williams-Cosworth           5
10.  Sutil         34       
11.  Heidfeld      34       
12.  Kobayashi     28       
13.  Alguersuari   26       
14.  Di Resta      23       
15.  Buemi         15       
16.  Perez         14       
17.  Barrichello    4       
18.  Senna          2       
19.  Maldonado      1       
       
All timing unofficial

Autosport

McLaren Mercedes - 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix preview

Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Martin Whitmarsh on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton

“I have some fantastic memories of the Yas Marina Circuit. I started from pole position there in 2009, and I led the race until I was forced to stop because of a brake issue. Last year, I finished second and set the fastest lap, so we head there looking to convert all that potential into a race win.


“I think we’ve got every reason to be confident for Abu Dhabi. This circuit should really suit the characteristics of our car – we should be able to capitalise on the layout to maximise the benefit of DRS and KERS, both of which are very strong on our car.

“Red Bull and Sebastian [Vettel] may have clinched both championships, but I’m still determined to end the season on a winning high. I’ve won two grands prix this year, and I’d love to double that by the end of the year! It would also be a great reward for everybody at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.”

Jenson Button

“Abu Dhabi has special memories for me because it was my first race after I’d won the world championship in 2009, so it made racing that weekend a really fun and enjoyable experience – I remember I had a fantastic battle with Mark [Webber] and finished third.

“The Yas Marina circuit looks and feels spectacular and futuristic: it’s a unique place – the way the circuit changes from dusk to darkness is incredible, and must be an amazing experience for the spectators. The way it’s built, the grandstands are almost on top the action so everyone gets a great view.

“It’s usually been quite difficult to overtake here, especially last year, but I think that DRS will change all that. The back straight is one of the longest in Formula 1 so I expect to see a lot of action there. It would be great to see the new rules turn this circuit into a place where overtaking is more common and more exciting.

“Our car should suit this circuit so I’m very optimistic. We saw at the last grand prix that even though we didn’t have the ultimate speed to catch and pass Sebastian, we made him work hard for the win. Tactically, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes ran a first-class race: I got all the right calls from the pit wall and the pit crew did a fantastic job. The championship may not be at stake any more but we’re still aiming to win races and put on a tremendous show.”

Martin Whitmarsh


Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

“The Indian Grand Prix two weeks ago was a unique achievement for Formula 1, and next weekend’s race in Abu Dhabi will be another pinnacle for the sport at probably the most futuristic and impressive circuit on the calendar.

“Jenson was quick and incredibly consistent in India, putting us in a position where we could be a little bit adventurous with the tyre strategy and put the leader under greater pressure. I know Lewis was disappointed with the outcome of his own race but that will not affect his preparations for the next challenge. He has an extremely impressive track record in Abu Dhabi, starting from pole position in 2009 and setting the fastest lap on his way to the podium in 2010, so I’m very confident that he’ll shine this weekend.

“At Vodafone McLaren Mercedes we approach every grand prix with one aim: to win it. So while we can never be entirely happy with finishing second, as we did in India, we can be satisfied that we maximised the technical package we had and look at ways to go one better for the next race.

“Even though we’ve secured second place in the constructors’ championship, and Jenson has a very healthy margin in second place in the drivers’ championship, the season isn’t over for us by any means. We’re continuing to bring new developments to our car and we’ll be fighting every bit as hard as we did at the first race in Australia back in March.”

McLaren.com/formula1

Button wants wins over championship runner-up spot

Jenson Button says it would be "nice" to finish second in the drivers' championship this season, but that another race win "would mean so much more".

Since Sebastian Vettel confirmed back-to-back titles at the Japanese Grand Prix in early October attention has turned to the battle for second place in the championship. Button, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber are separated by just 19 points, while Lewis Hamilton also has a mathematical chance of finishing second, and having been Vettel's closest challenger throughout the second half of the season Button said he would like to secure the runner-up spot.

"It's nice to know that if I do finish second I will have beaten a Red Bull (Webber), which is good," Button told the Press Association."Sebastian has done an unbelievable job this year, but he still has a team-mate, and to beat a guy in a Red Bull is great every time.

"And when Fernando is in tune with his car, it's great to beat him because he is super fast, and then there is also my team-mate who is unbelievably quick. So yeah, it would be nice to finish in front of them in the championship."

Button did admit, however, that he would prefer to win another grand prix, having finished second to Vettel in Italy, Singapore and India in recent races.

"As I've said before, if I could get another win then that would mean so much more to me this year. I've three already, and I'd like another in Abu Dhabi, Brazil, or maybe even both. Quite a few times this year, especially over the last few races, I have been the closest guy to Sebastian when he has won.

"We're certainly closer now than we were this time last year at the end of the season. We're much stronger at the moment, we're in a good place right now, which is a positive. We're still not quite as good as the Red Bulls, but they're not a big chunk ahead of us. It's very, very close. But when they get into the lead they don't make any mistakes, so it's tricky."

ESPNF1

Costs a high priority - Whitmarsh

Martin Whitmarsh says that cost control measures are still highly important in Formula One, and that running third cars would be "the wrong solution" for the sport.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo commented over the weekend that teams should be allowed to test in-season and also be able to supply teams with cars. However, when asked during a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes phone-in if he felt that maintaining a control on costs was still as important as it had been when the ban on testing was introduced, Whitmarsh replied: "Yes I do.

"The statistics that I live by are the ones that since McLaren entered Formula One it's been quite moderately successful - winning over a quarter of the races and on the podium for more than half of them - and during that time 101 teams have disappeared from the sport. I think that really demonstrates the volatility of the sport.

"We have in the last few years evolved from being pretty much a sub-set of the automotive sector to being pretty well back to a more pure Formula One set of businesses. I think we shouldn't underestimate how tough it is for the smaller teams. It is fine for perhaps some of the bigger teams, who feel quite confident about their future, but the fact is we need ten or 12 teams in the sport to race against."

Specifically on the topic of running a third car, Whitmarsh said he could see where bigger teams would benefit, but that he didn't think it would be the right move for the sport.

"I personally think that to generate grid size with three-car teams - I understand why some people are attracted to that, and if it was necessary it has some interest to McLaren - is the wrong solution for Formula One. Formula One requires the diversity of entry. And I think we therefore have to work hard to ensure that there are sustainable business models for all of the teams that are in Formula One."

Whitmarsh also downplayed Motezemolo's threats that Formula One must change, saying that his personal views would not threaten the unity of the teams.

"In fairness to Luca, I think Luca's an extremely charismatic figure within Ferrari, within Italy and within motorsport. I know how off-the-cuff comments can be construed and amplified. I think he is passionate about Formula One. I think he's very proud of Ferrari's history and heritage, and he will inevitably push with great passion his personally-held opinions and views.

"I think on day-to-day business Formula One is much better when the teams and the governing body work together to design regulations. I think we've demonstrated over the last three years slightly calmer environments, without paying too much attention to external rhetoric, and I think we've made some good decisions."

ESPNF1

F1 calendar at 'tipping point' - Whitmarsh

McLaren team principal Maryin Whitmarsh believes the Formula One calendar is at its "tipping point" with 20 races scheduled for next year.

There were meant to be 20 races this year but the Bahrain Grand Prix was called off due to civil unrest in the country. Assuming all races run as planned next season there will be 20 races, but in 2013 and 2014 new events in New Jersey and Russia are set to join the schedule. Whitmarsh warned that more than 20 races would force the teams to employ more staff as the current workload on mechanics and engineers is at the limit.

"I think 20 races and a lot of flyaways is pretty hard on the teams and I think we're at the tipping point," he said in India. "You're getting close to the point that you need to take the NASCAR approach and alternate crews [during the season]. I think the world championship is important but every grand prix, as a stand-alone event, is a very special event. Personally I think we shouldn't go more than 20, I know there's always the chase of money and the want to have more, but I think 20 is a lot and I think we're right on the limit of what we should be."

The teams agree to shutdown their factories for two weeks each year in August in order to give their staff some time off and Whitmarsh said breaks were essential for the hardworking mechanics and engineers.

"We must have a break during the winter and we must have one mid-season because it is very hard," he said. "By the time the guys get back and strip down [the cars] after Brazil [at the end of the season] it will be December and by January the same guys will be building the new car, by February they are going to be testing the car and then they're into a flog around the world. It's an incredibly difficult and challenging job for the mechanics, the technicians and the engineers. Fortunately we've got a great team here and they enjoy the challenge."

McLaren driver Jenson Button said the drivers would not necessarily be adverse to more than 20 races, but said it was too much to ask of their crews.

"We [the drivers] love racing and that's what we're here for," he added. "For us it doesn't matter how many races there are, but you've got to think about the guys that are working non-stop - the mechanics and engineers. It's so, so tough on them, it's much tougher on them than us. We arrive on a Wednesday or even a Thursday and these guys are there two or three days before and then they are still packing up on Monday. It's a massive difference in the hours those guys have to do and it's definitely them that's the limit not us."

Although 20 races are scheduled for next season there are still question marks hanging over the rounds in Bahrain and Korea, with ongoing political unrest in Bahrain and funding concerns in Korea. It has emerged that both are set to be discussed at Thursday's meeting of the F1 Commission in Geneva with the possibility of a replacement race, most likely in Turkey according to Autosport.com, being put on standby.

ESPNF1