Formula One News: Paddy Lowe says McLaren ready to show magic at Silverstone
The season has turned out to be really good for McLaren as they stand at the top of the drivers’ as well as the constructors’ charts. With McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton winning both of the last races, the team stands at the top with two hundred and fifteen points and both their drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button stand at the first and second place respectively.
With all the success that the team has been able to get, a lot of credit goes to the development work being done at their factories. The engineering director of the team, Paddy Lowe talked about the team’s plan to encounter Red Bull’s advancements as well as how their team reacts at the changes made in the regulation for the 2011 season.
Team McLaren is looking forwards to the Valencia Grand Prix on this Sunday as the drivers as well as the car have been able to give some of their best performances in the past few races. The team hasn’t made many technological advancements in their cars however they have tried to tailor strategies that would let the drivers get the best out of the track as well as the cars. However, Paddy told that they have the bigger surprise to unwrap at the British Grand Prix next month.
He added that all the teams have shown their concern after the advancements that the Red Bull made regarding their exhaust exit flow system. He further told that there are some technical challenges that McLaren is facing at the moment with the new system but they are at the testing phase and the team is quite hopeful that it would be ready to use at Silverstone next month.
It is already known to all that Red Bull Racing is planning to bring their F-duct system to Valencia this weekend. Previously, they used it in Turkey as well on the Friday’s practice session, but did not use it on the final race day due to some technical issues.
Ferrari has announced a little earlier that they are bringing their newly built blown rear end to Valencia track for which analysts say that it is worth half a second per lap. However, when Paddy was asked about it, he said that he does not think that it will make a tremendous difference actually, as things are different theoretically and very different when practically done. As per his opinion, it would not do any magic that everybody thinks it is capable of doing.
While commenting on the deal that has been recently signed with Pirelli, he said that in Montreal the tyres led the team do wonders on the track. However, he said that uncertainty and stress on the pit wall would increase in the beginning of the season, as it takes time to get adjusted. He also added that it was too early to say anything for sure and that any opinion could be given after the initial few races of the next season.
While concluding his discussion, he was asked about the McLaren reaction at the departure of Pat Fry who has left for Ferrari. Since Pat had been with the team for the past 18 years, therefore his leaving makes McLaren loose a man with the experience and knowledge of all these years. He told that Pat had been a great friend to all of them as well as a great engineer. Paddy added that though the entire team misses him but they do not fear that Pat has taken away the knowledge of all these years with him as they still have great strength with all their disciplines. He told that individuals only contribute but there’s no one-man-show. He said that he feels happy for him and he wishes him a great time there.
Overall, Paddy seemed very happy and satisfied with the team, the drivers and the cars as well. It is only a couple of more days to go and we will witness how good the McLarens can do at the European Grand Prix on this weekend.
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