Second and fourth for McLaren
McLaren have enjoyed a good qualifying session at Abu Dhabi with their drivers starting tomorrow's race in second and fourth positions. Hamilton was extremely happy with his performance after a few difficult races. Jenson Button is optimistic as the team were able to improve on his set-up drastically compared to Friday.
Lewis Hamilton, MP4-25A-04:
P3: 3rd / 1m41.280s (+0.584s) / 13 laps
Q1: 4th / 1m40.335s (on Primes)
Q2: 5th / 1m40.119s (on Options)
Q3: 2nd / 1m39.394s (on Options)
“I’m absolutely delighted – this is my best qualifying performance since Spa, and I pushed as hard as I could and got everything and more out of the car. To be just three-hundredths off the fastest Red Bull is extremely good news for the team.
“We’ve worked incredibly hard all year, but we couldn’t quite catch them up quickly enough. Even so, to be right behind the one on pole – and have both Ferraris behind – is a great achievement.
“On the grid tomorrow, I don’t have to worry about who’s around me – they all have to worry about who’s around them! I’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain. It’s the other drivers who’ll have to worry; I don’t have to be cautious at all in the race. Perhaps they need to think about that…
“Both Jenson and I qualified well today, so this is good news for us in the battle for second place in the constructors’ world championship. I’d love for us to finish one-two tomorrow – that would be a real high for the whole team.
“I’m not focusing on winning the drivers’ title; I’m just focusing on winning this race."
Jenson Button, MP4-25A-01:
P3: 5th / 1m41.578s (+0.882s) / 17 laps
Q1: 6th / 1m40.877s (on Primes)
Q2: 2nd / 1m40.014s (on Options)
Q3: 4th / 1m39.823s (on Options)
“We’ve been tweaking the car all weekend, and we made a big leap from where we were yesterday, so I’m happy with the way things improved.
“Qualifying was also very good. I’d been struggling with a major brake vibration issue during Q1, but it got better through Q2 and Q3. The vibration didn’t help my front locking issues, but at least they were better than I’d had in the past couple of races.
“I made a mistake and ran wide on my last lap, so it’s a little disappointing to be starting fourth because I could have been even higher, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race. All the cars appear to be reasonably close, so it should be a good battle.
“My aim is to get as many points as I can tomorrow – we want to secure second place in the constructors’ world championship, and that’ll be our aim for tomorrow.”
Martin Whitmarsh, Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes:
“Both Lewis and Jenson drove superbly in qualifying today, and will line up second and fourth on tomorrow’s grid as a result.
“In fact Lewis missed out on bagging pole position by just three-hundredths of a second – and inevitably you’re always just a smidgen disappointed when it’s as close as that at the front.
“Nevertheless, his goal tomorrow will be a unilateral one: to score 25 world championship points.
“He’s well placed to do just that – and, as ever, he’ll be pushing just as hard as he knows how. He’ll have a competitive race car tomorrow, and in our view he’ll be in decent shape to deliver the win we need.
“Jenson, too, is well placed to score heavily, and thereby consolidate Vodafone McLaren Mercedes’s second place in the constructors’ world championship.
“So I reckon tomorrow has all the ingredients to be one of the most thrilling days in the history of Formula 1, and I’m sure that trackside spectators and TV viewers alike will be on the edges of their seats during what promises to be a truly dramatic sporting occasion.”
