“I’m looking forward to Turkey. I think we came away from Monaco with a respectable result, but the MP4-25 wasn’t particularly well suited to a tight and bumpy track like that. At a place like Istanbul Park, our car will be back in its element. It loves smooth, fast circuits, where the aero can really work over the car through the long, fast corners. It should feel fantastic to drive.
“So, looking at the characteristics of the track, it’s a place where we should be able to pick up from where we left off in Spain. We’re not under any illusions, but we think we’ll be able to get another decent result and we’re hopeful of taking the fight to the cars at the front.
“People have asked me whether tyre wear might be a problem this year, particularly with the higher fuel-loads, but I think our car works well in high-speed corners, and has typically been good at looking after its tyres during the race, so I don’t foresee there being any particular problems.
“I’ve had some good races in Turkey, but I’ve never won the race, so it would be fantastic to open my 2010 account with a victory there.”
Martin Whitmarsh
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
“After a non-finishe in Spain for Lewis, we head to Istanbul determined to once again race at the front.
“On paper, the track configuration should suit the MP4-25 package, which seems to excel around faster circuits. The circuit has also been resurfaced ahead of this year’s race, so we’re expecting a return to the race pace we showed in places like Barcelona and Shanghai.
“Our development battle continues for this race. We’ll have the usual iterative changes for Turkey, these include some planned aerodynamic upgrades, which we hope will edge us closer to the front.”
