F1 Barcelona - SUN - Race - Jenson 5th, Lewis 14th

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Barcelona, Spain, May 09, 2010

More points for Jenson - but disappointment for Lewis

JENSON BUTTON
- MP4-25A-03
- Started: 5th
- Finished: 5th
- Fastest lap: 1m25.166s (4th)
- Pitstops: one: on lap 16 (Opt-Pri)
- 2010 points: 70 (1st)

�During the opening laps, my dashboard readout stopped working. The team was telling me over the radio to do things on the steering wheel but I couldn�t see if I was doing the right things. And I couldn�t see the rev lights either: most of the time I was pretty close with my gear-changes, but I was hitting the limiter quite a lot, which happens when you�re getting a tow and you�re shifting at different places.


�Then I was delayed at the first pitstop: there was a problem with the clutch dragging, so the guys couldn�t get the wheel on, and then I had wheelspin. When I rejoined the track, I didn�t know where Michael [Schumacher] was. Into Turn One, he turned in � and if I hadn�t backed out of it, we would probably have crashed.

�As everyone knows, it�s almost impossible to overtake around here, and Michael was moving about a bit to make sure I couldn�t get past. That was frustrating because the pace of my car was really good this afternoon, but that doesn�t make any difference if you can�t overtake. I was trying so hard to get past that I damaged my tyres quite a bit; I flat-spotted a front and hurt the rears under traction.

�Fifth wasn�t the result we�d wanted, and it wasn�t the result we really deserved either because we were pretty quick. I guess you could say that was both a positive and a negative, because I couldn�t get to use that pace fully today.�

LEWIS HAMILTON
- MP4-25A-04
- Started: 3rd
- Finished: Ret, lap 64 (14th)
- Fastest lap: 1m24.828s (1st)
- Pitstops: one: on lap 17 (Opt-Pri)
- 2010 points: 49 (=6th)

�Today, I was looking good to split the Red Bulls, and it would have been perfect for us in both world championships if I could have finished second this afternoon.

�I was just nursing the car to the finish line, then I suddenly felt the steering go, and then there was immediately a failure on the left-front corner. I didn�t sense anything odd before the accident � the car was feeling great � so that�s why it was such a surprise. We don�t know what went wrong, but we�ll take everything back to the McLaren Technology Centre [Woking, Surrey, UK] and work to find out.

�I think I drove a good race. I couldn�t keep up with Mark [Webber] on my second set of tyres, but I was able to get past Sebastian [Vettel] as I came out of the pits. I have to say, there were problems with some of the backmarkers today � it felt like we were lapping some of them four or five times � and some of them were very bad at getting out of the way.

�I appreciate that it�s not always easy for the backmarkers, and I know from the first half of last year what it�s like to be lapped, but some of them were slowing on the racing line, and in fact I nearly collided with a couple of them when they did that. It was quite difficult at times, because there was such a big speed difference. I guess it may be more difficult still at Monaco.

�But, going back to today, I�m absolutely gutted that my accident happened so close to the finish of the race � but that�s motor racing. The guys did an incredible job all weekend, though. There are many more races to go this season, and I�ll keep my chin up. I know we can still fight for this championship.�

MARTIN WHITMARSH
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

��For Lewis, it was just one of those days. He drove brilliantly � an impressively disciplined yet excitingly combative performance � and posted the fastest lap of the race, nearly half a second quicker than the next-best lap, on his way to what would have been a richly deserved second place had he not been forced to retire within spitting distance of the chequered flag.

�We�ll now gather up the parts, take them back to the McLaren Technology Centre, and then analyse them meticulously � so, until we�ve done that, we won�t really be able to make any definitive statements about what we think it was that caused the problem at the left-front corner of his car.

�Jenson drove a very good race too, but was hampered early on by a dash display failure that prevented him from being able to follow our normal launch procedure during his pitstop. As a result he was slowed by wheelspin which allowed Michael to slip ahead of him. Thereafter he wasn�t quite able to overtake, despite clearly having the potential to lap faster than Michael had he had a clear track in front of him.

�Naturally enough, all of us at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes feel a little disappointed to have lost 18 world championship points at the 11th hour today, but there are nonetheless a lot of positives we can take from the weekend. We showed strong race pace today, we�re still leading both the drivers� world championship and the constructors� world championship, and the next grand prix is at Monaco, which McLaren has won no fewer than 15 times � significantly more than any other team in Formula 1 history. We�ll be racing on the famous streets of the Principality in just a few days� time, and you can be well sure that we�ll be doing everything in our power to add to our win tally there.�











* Official photos and info courtesy of VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES *

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