F1 Barcelona - FRI - Free Practice (VMM)

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Barcelona, Spain, May 07, 2010

Wild and windy in Barcelona!

LEWIS HAMILTON
- MP4-25A-04
- P1 programme: 21 laps, 1m21.134s, 1st
- P2 programme: 23 laps, 1m21.191s (+.1.226s), 5th

�It was quite windy today, so, despite running right through our programme, we struggled a little bit, particularly at the end when we changed to the Option tyre and encountered a bit of traffic. The new parts have definitely given us a step forward, but we don�t yet know how big that step is compared to our rivals.


�Generally, however, the car doesn�t feel too bad. Hopefully, we�ll be able to make some further set-up changes overnight, too. Tomorrow we�ll just be focusing on our programme, pushing the envelope, and analysing everything we can to make sure we�re as competitive as we can possibly be.�

JENSON BUTTON
- MP4-25A-03
- P1 programme: 14 laps, 1m21.672s (+.538s), 2nd
- P2 programme: 26 laps, 1m21.364s (+.1.399s), 9th

�I think we�ve still got a little bit of work to do, to be honest. I didn�t get as much running done this morning as I would have liked because I hit something coming out of the pits � probably a small part of a car, which damaged one of my car�s bargeboards.

�This afternoon we embarked on some set-up changes that we thought were headed in the right direction, but I�m not sure if they were. So there�s a lot of work still to be done on both tyres � some of it is possibly set-up, and some of it is getting the tyres in their correct working range.

�This afternoon was a very tricky session. A few teams were already getting their cars to work well, so we should be able to get there too. But there�s a lot to be done this evening to figure out exactly why our car didn�t feel as we expected it to. I don�t think it�s an issue of the new components working or not, I think it�s more about not turning the tyres on properly, or not working them in the correct way.

�We�ve got a lot of data to go through, but I�m certain we can make some improvements and come back with a stronger car for tomorrow.�

MARTIN WHITMARSH
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

�We certainly come away from today�s two sessions armed with a considerable amount of data to sift through ahead of third practice and qualifying tomorrow. Today�s uncharacteristically chilly weather, and the resultant difficulties we encountered in adapting the set-up to best suit the conditions, meant that neither Jenson nor Lewis felt entirely happy with their cars by the end of second practice.

�As a result, we�ll place even greater emphasis on an examination of the data before tomorrow. We�re confident that our car has the potential to be well suited to this circuit, and that this afternoon�s pace was not fully representative of our expected race performance.

�Finally, it was a very proud moment to see the Circuit de Catalunya and the people of Spain commemorating Jenson�s world title by inducting him into their Champions� Avenue parade this afternoon. We�ve got some extremely happy memories of racing here, and we think both Jenson and Lewis are doing the very best possible job to ensure that we�re in the hunt for both 2010 world championships.�













* Official photos and info courtesy of VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES *

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