Faultless race for Hamilton as Button retired due to team error
The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 Team expected more from the Monaco race. Although Lewis Hamilton finished the race in 5th position, thus scoring 10 points, team mate Jenson Button was forced to reitre after a human error of the team.
Lewis Hamilton:
MP4-25A-01
Started: 5th
Finished: 5th
Fastest lap: 1m16.219s (10th)
Pitstops: One: on lap 17 (Opt-Pri)
2010 points: 59 (=6th)
“I got quite a good start, and was challenging the guys on the second row into Turn One, but it just wasn’t possible to make a move stick.
“It’s virtually impossible to overtake around here, especially when the guys in front of me were as fast as I was. After the result in Barcelona, I didn’t want any further mishaps, so I just looked after the car and went for the points.
“It was quite a straightforward race for me, and fifth was the maximum possible, but I’m not complaining; we need those points.
“I know we’re working hard to bring improvements to the car for Turkey, and I’m sure we’ll be able to make up the gap to the front at some stage soon.”
Jenson Button:
MP4-25A-03
Started: 8th
Finished: Ret, lap 2
Fastest lap: 2m14.285s (23rd)
Pitstops: None (Opt)
2010 points: 70 (4th)
“That was extremely disappointing. I knew after the formation lap that there was a cooling cover left on the left-hand sidepod, where the radiator is.
“We thought everything was going to be okay, and it would probably have been fine if we hadn’t had a Safety Car. My car quickly began to overheat and I started losing engine power, so I turned the engine off pretty sharply because the last thing I wanted was to leave engine oil on the racing line.
“Today was just one of those days. It was human error, a mistake, and that’s all there is to it. I’m still only eight points behind the lead of the drivers’ championship and we head to Turkey feeling confident that we’ll be more competitive there.”
Martin Whitmarsh, Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: “Lewis scored a useful 10 points as a consequence of his solid run to fifth place – which, since overtaking is notoriously difficult here at Monaco and since there was no attrition in front of him, was as good a result as he could realistically have hoped for from his fifth position on the grid. He drove faultlessly, in fact, looking after his brakes and tyres throughout.
“Jenson’s afternoon was very disappointing one for him, through no fault of his own. Human error caused a cooling cover to be left off the left-hand radiator on the lap to the grid – and, despite our best efforts to recover the situation, the components underneath the car got too hot, and Jenson was forced to switch the engine off when a small fire developed.”
