LEWIS HAMILTON
P3 programme
17 laps 1m36.330s (3rd)
Continuing the set-up direction established during Friday practice, Lewis quickly got down to business in the morning, conducting a five-lap run on primes (1m37.246s best). He carried out two further two-lap runs, setting best times of 1m37.206s and 1m36.330s on primes and options respectively. He finished the session third fastest.
Qualifying
Q1 1m35.776s (4th)
Q2 1m35.740s (6th)
Q3 1m38.595 (9th overall)
Into Q1, Lewis bolted on a set of options and blasted out two fast laps – a 1m36.381s and a fourth-fastest 1m35.776s, declaring himself extremely satisfied: “They were pretty hardcore laps!” he said. “They were almost beyond the limit.” For the second session, Lewis once again underlined MP4-24’s pace by setting sixth-fastest time (1m35.740s). Into Q3 for the first time this year, Lewis ended the day ninth fastest (1m38.595s) but pleased with the progress achieved by the team this weekend. “Step by step, we are moving forward,” he said. “And thanks to all the guys back at the factory for doing such a fantastic job and for churning away on all the new parts – every little bit helps us catch the leaders. There’s still a long way to go but this definitely feels like the start of the road to recovery.”
MARTIN WHITMARSH – team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
“Lewis’s ninth place marks the first time this season that we have made it into Q3 and also demonstrates the effort we are putting in back at the McLaren Technology Centre to improve MP4-24. Admittedly, there is still a long way to go – and we will not be happy until we are back at the front – but this is an encouraging and significant step for the whole team. Lewis’s laps, particularly in Q1 and Q2 were absolutely tremendous and worthy of a great champion. While Heikki was unable to improve on 12th, he and his engineers did a fantastic job together to set the car up. As a result, we go into tomorrow’s race seriously optimistic of getting both cars into the points.”
NORBERT HAUG – vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
“A great job by Lewis and the team – since the beginning of the season we have taken steps forward. I believe we have a first-class strategy. There will be cars ahead of us which will make early pitstops, beginning approximately with lap 10, but we want to cover two and a half times as much until our first stop. In Q1, Lewis was fourth, two and half tenths behind first place, in Q2 he was sixth, six tenths behind the best time – at least, we are making progress compared to Melbourne and Sepang. Two BMWs and one Ferrari will start behind us – we have the best-placed car with KERS in the field; we are heading in the right direction, but anyway there is still a lot of work to do. Unfortunately, Heikki missed Q3 by just 0.063sec – that must be annoying for him and the team which truly deserved two cars in the top 10 as a reward for their hard work. However, 12th is not too far behind 10th.”
