Lewis rued a missed opportunity to get onto the podium today after spinning twice and losing ground in the middle of the race as he struggled to keep his wet-tyres working properly.
From ninth on the grid, he made an immediate strong charge – enjoying fantastic tussles with Kimi and Trulli to get up to fifth. “It was almost too difficult to drive at the beginning of the race,” Lewis said. “But I found a good pace and had some fun in the opening laps, but unfortunately I destroyed my tyres quite early on.”
Lewis spun at the exit of Turn 10 and dropped to 10th, once again resuming his charge to re-pass Heikki and Trulli to run eighth. Cars stopping during the second Safety Car period moved him to fifth and a ballsy pass of Kimi around the outside of Turn 7 put him fourth. Stopping on lap 33, he dropped to seventh and clambered back to fifth, when he ran wide at Turn 10 and was passed by Heikki. Another spin, at Turn 16, left him seventh. Sutil’s retirement in the closing laps elevated him to sixth at the chequer.
“I made a few too many mistakes today,” Lewis added. “It was very slippery and my front-left tyre was finished long before the end but I still gave it my best. This afternoon was a real struggle but I’m glad I got some points for the team.”
MARTIN WHITMARSH – team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
“First of all, I want to offer our hearty congratulations to all at Red Bull Racing on the occasion of their first grand prix win. Sebastian drove a great race – and well done, too, to our old friend Adrian Newey. As for our team, Heikki scored a very well deserved four points for an impressive fifth place. It isn’t at all easy to drive a faultless race in conditions like those we faced today, but Heikki did just that. Lewis pressed hard all afternoon – and, when you do that, occasionally you run wide or spin. Lewis duly did so – but, in truth, his was a great drive, too.
“We were never going to be able to live with the Red Bulls or the Brawns today, which is why we chose a one-stop strategy. The track was wet throughout the race, and the longer stints that our strategy dictated inevitably caused more wet-tyre wear than that experienced by the two-stoppers; but, despite the challenges posed by that extra wet-tyre wear, our drivers both coped very well. So, overall, an encouraging result: getting two cars into the points shows that we’re making good progress, but there’s more to come and we’re working flat-out to develop the improvements that will deliver it.”
