McLaren leave Canada empty handed
McLaren have scored no points for the first time in 68 Grand Prix. Sergio Perez finished just outside of the points in 11th place while Jenson Button was close behind in 12th.
Sergio Perez, MP4-28A-02: “This wasn’t the race we were hoping to have. We tried our best to try and score a few points, but it was impossible to do any better than we did out there today. It’s a pity, because the car felt quite good during our installation laps. But the car didn’t work that well on the Option tyre, and we struggled to find enough grip.
“At Silverstone, I hope we can make a step forward. We brought some upgrades to this race, but didn’t really get the running we needed to verify them. Hopefully, they’ll work better at Silverstone.”
Jenson Button, MP4-28A-01: “This wasn’t the best race for us as a team. It’s particularly tough because this circuit is usually very good to us. With hindsight, I think we’d have been better off starting on the Prime tyre, rather than the Option. During my first stint, all the two-stoppers pitted ahead of me, then came back to overtake me, so it was a bit tricky. However, we showed today that, irrespective of strategy, we wouldn’t have gone any faster.
“Our car tends to work better on fast and flowing circuits – such as Malaysia or China – so I’m looking forward to my home race at Silverstone at the end of the month. We tried some new parts this weekend, but they weren’t really suited for this type of circuit – they should work better at Silverstone, so I’m feeling positive about the future.”
Martin Whitmarsh, Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: “This was a difficult afternoon. Credit goes out to Jenson and Checo – both drivers performed brilliantly, attacking when necessary, and driving with the foresight and caution needed to look after their tyres across long stints. They deserved to score points.
“Unfortunately, with the benefit of hindsight, we were a touch too conservative with our tyre management this afternoon. The Prime turned out to be a stronger tyre than we’d anticipated, and we could have exploited it for longer and further in the race than we did. The data that we’ve accumulated this weekend will nonetheless provide us with a useful basis from which to move forwards, and we’ve learned some valuable lessons this weekend.
“Our focus now turns to our home race at Silverstone. We’ll be doing our utmost to score a better result for the many British fans who’ll be supporting Vodafone McLaren Mercedes on home soil.”
