F1 Hockenheim - SUN - Race - Lewis Hamilton 4th, Jenson Button 5th

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Hockenheim, Germany, Jul 25, 2010

More points on the board - and still top of both tables

LEWIS HAMILTON
- MP4-25A-04
- Started: 6th
- Finished: 4th
- Fastest lap: 1m16.503s (+0.679s), 5th
- Pitstops: One: on lap 14 (Opt-Pri)
- 2010 points: 157 (1st)

�I did everything I could at the start, because I knew that that was the place where I could really make up some ground. Unfortunately, the guys in front were phenomenally quick, but I still managed to make up a couple of places.


�It was a very tough race today � the car didn�t feel fantastic and the Ferraris and Red Bulls were very fast. We hoped the gap would be closer in the race than it was in qualifying, and it was � but, even so, we�ve got to make up some pace on our main rivals.

�We need to go back and figure out where we can improve, and pick it up again very quickly. Today, we did everything we could do � now we just have to work harder than ever to get ahead of the cars in front.�

JENSON BUTTON
- MP4-25A-03
- Started: 5th
- Finished: 5th
- Fastest lap: 1m16.451s (+0.627s), 4th
- Pitstops: One: on lap 22 (Opt-Pri)
- 2010 points: 143 (2nd)

�My start was pretty good, I got away fantastically well off the line � but we got to Turn One, and Sebastian [Vettel], who was fighting the Ferraris, braked pretty early, and I nearly went into the back of him. I had to take avoiding action and go wide at Turn One � the thing is, I hit the brakes, and soon as you do that in Turn One, you lose a lot of time. So I lost three places, but thankfully I got one of those back pretty quickly.

�In the first stint, I looked after the tyres pretty well. I was at the back of the group, and it was a strategy that we�d planned before the race. After my stop, my pace relative to Lewis was very similar, and I settled in never less than two seconds behind him. But I couldn�t go any quicker because I was losing downforce to the car in front.

�Lewis and I showed today that we got the maximum out of the car � it�s just that the car isn�t quite quick enough at the moment.�

MARTIN WHITMARSH
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

�Today we saw yet another impressively competent day�s work from both our drivers � and the result was 22 very valuable world championship points.

�In truth, in the circumstances, that�s probably about as many as we could have hoped to score today.

�We arrived in Germany in first place in the constructors� championship and in first and second places in the drivers� championship � and we leave Germany in exactly the same positions. So that�s extremely positive.

�From here on in, we�ll work as hard as we can to maintain and improve our positions at the head of both world championships. We�ll continue to develop our car in the weeks and months ahead, with a view to adding as many world championship points to the milestone total of 300 we�ve amassed this season as of today.�

















* Official photos and info courtesy of VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES *

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