McLaren dominates Monaco GP weekend
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes continued their domination of the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix weekend when Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton claimed the team’s second one-two finish this season. Fernando crossed the line first with Lewis four seconds behind.
Both drivers had lapped the entire field apart from Felipe Massa in third place who was 69 seconds behind Fernando. Both drivers were on a two stop strategy with Fernando coming in on laps 26 (7.5 seconds) and 51 (7.9 seconds) whilst Lewis pitted on laps 29 (8.9 seconds) and 53 (5 seconds). Fernando is leading the World Championship with Lewis second – both on 38 points. The Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team extended their lead in the Constructors Championship and now has 76 points.
Fernando Alonso “This win means a lot to me and our World Championship Campaign. It’s a very nice surprise to see how the team’s hard work during the last couple of weeks has made our car so competitive. I have never had the experience of being more than one minute ahead of the competition which probably makes this one of my best victories. I didn’t get off the line brilliantly from pole position, but as there is such a short run to the first corner I was pretty sure that I would be able to keep the lead. However, as I was able to save fuel in my first stint I was able to stay out for two more laps than originally planned. After that the race was pretty quiet with only the backmarkers causing a few problems especially shortly before my second pitstop when I lost a lot of time. I will enjoy this victory and look forward to the races in North America.”
Lewis Hamilton “To finish second and running similar lap times to Fernando at the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix makes me very happy. The team has done a fantastic job, and Fernando and I were able to give them the result they deserved. My start was quite good, and I could run close to Fernando but obviously it didn’t make sense to try anything crazy as our job is to ensure the maximum amount of points for the team. It’s almost impossible to overtake in Monaco and as a result your only chance is for the guy in front of you to make a mistake. However, Fernando is a double world champion so I knew there would be none. I had good pace in the beginning, but then I had some graining on my front tyres which didn’t help. It was an exciting race which also saw me tapping the guardrails a couple of times, fortunately without influencing the handling of the car. All in all a great weekend for the team and me.”
Ron Dennis “An outstanding result for the team. Both Fernando and Lewis drove so well and responded excellently to the team’s wishes of bringing both cars home safely in what was a memorable one-two result and McLaren’s 14th victory in the Principality. However there is some disappointment because of the different strategies we needed to follow to cope with a potential deployment of the Safety Car which has happened four times in the last five years. Consequently you virtually have to decide in advance which one of the team’s two drivers will claim the victory. Once the first round of pitstops had taken place we reverted Lewis from a one-stop-strategy to the faster two-stop-strategy and at the same time slowed both cars down to conserve the brakes. As a team we would like to race but this circuit requires a disciplined approach and as a result we can leave Monte Carlo with the maximum amount of points.”
Norbert Haug “The team showed a picture book performance today in Monaco. At this challenging circuit Fernando and Lewis were fast like nobody else on both the Bridgestone Potenza prime and option tyres which worked perfectly well on our car. Both drivers’ performances were flawless and the team’s strategy was perfect. Thank you to the colleagues in Woking, Brixworth and Stuttgart for all their hard work making this second 1-2 victory in the fifth race of the season possible.”
