McLaren happy with 'spirited' performance at Singapore
McLaren scored a double points finish at Singapore, thanks to a 7th place finish by Jenson Button. Sergio Perez was close throughout the race and finished just behind in 8th.
Jenson Button, MP4-28A-04, 7th: “We thought we might have a chance of a podium, but in the end we didn’t have the pace to keep us ahead of the closing cars. It was good fun trying though, and we have to take risks if we want to get podium finishes this year.
“We expected to spend most of the race on the Option tyre, so we’d set the car up for that. The Prime tyre didn’t work so well for me, and having to hold Kimi off for so long destroyed my rear tyres and made things very tricky. In the end, as I say, we simply didn’t have enough pace to stop him overtaking.
“It was a good try though, and a P7 finish isn’t too bad. We couldn’t have done any better with a different strategy, I’m certain of that, and I’m glad we got some good points for the team.”
Sergio Perez, MP4-28A-03, 8th: “I think we should be satisfied with today’s result – as Jenson says P7 and P8 was probably the best we could have achieved today. In my view the Safety Car came at the wrong time for us, so we had to take a risk by choosing to drive to the finish with two pit-stops. It was pretty tough to keep the car out of the barriers – not to crash yet to lose too much lap-time – but as I say I think it was the right choice.
“Last but not least, although P7 and P8 isn’t brilliant, it’s the best we could have hoped for – and I dearly hope it’ll put a smile on the faces of my people, in my country, Mexico, who really need something to smile about at this very difficult time.”
Martin Whitmarsh, Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes: “Jenson and Checo both drove great, spirited, combative races here this afternoon, and the result was a brace of points-scoring finishes for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.
“Our strategy involved an element of risk, but that risk was worth taking. After all, the second-placed and third-placed finishers both ran the same strategy – and, although our cars didn’t have sufficient pace to beat them to those podium finishes, our drivers boldly embraced the challenge set by a strategy that required them to attack and defend with an impressive mix of aggression and restraint.
“Checo, in particular, made an extremely good start, moving from his P14 grid slot to P11 on lap one, and thereafter fighting his way through heavy traffic all afternoon to finish eighth at the flag, just behind Jenson in seventh. From here we go to Mokpo, South Korea, where we’ll be aiming to score points with both cars once again.”
