McLaren Confess to Communication Error with the Drivers
The McLaren team confessed that during the Turkish Grand Prix last month, they made communication errors with their drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. Lewis Hamilton led the race with a McLaren one-two in Istanbul but was upset on Lap 50 to be overtaken by Button after Hamilton was told via radio that this would not happen. Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren team Principal, later on said that Phil Prew, McLaren’s Chief engineer, told Lewis that Button would not overtake him. He also said that it was a natural reply and that view was clearly wrong. The McLaren incident of overtaking by Jenson came eight laps after the collision of Red Bull teammates Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. During the race championship, Webber was leading the race on lap 40 of the 58-lap race, with Red Bull on track for a one-two, when an overtaking move by Vettel resulted in a collision.
Following the collision, Vettel was out of the race, while Webber was forced to pit for a new front division before resuming the race and at last finishing third. The crash allowed Hamilton to lead from his English teammate Button, but later on both McLaren drivers were told to save fuel in a race that had perceived high consumption.
Whitmarsh added that “unavoidably there is a quandary that how tough you can race as you get near to the end and to us that had been sufficiently demonstrated that sometimes even a team and its drivers can get it wrong.” Whitmarsh said that it was not wrong as both their drivers wanted to win, but the race, on the contrary, was quicker than they expected, therefore it was asked by both the drivers to save fuel as already too much was consumed. Hamilton had already seen Button on his trail closing on him and although team orders are banned in a competition, especially in an official race of the Turkish Grand Prix, but Hamilton was heard communicating with the McLaren team that whether he should back off and let Jenson pass him or not. Whereas McLaren answered in the negative and told Lewis that Jenson will not cross him. However, with just 10 laps remaining, Hamilton, at Turn eight, slowed down a bit and Button took advantage and overtook him through Turns 12 and 13.
Hamilton soon retained the lead from Button at the beginning of the next lap. The McLaren team later admitted that due to communication errors the problem occurred between the drivers, which were resolved later on. Whitmarsh said that it wasn’t expected from Lewis that he would slow down as much as he did in Turn Eight, and Jenson, seeing the opportunity that he could pass his teammate, took it and went on to lead.
When Lewis was overtaken, he came back quickly, took the lead again and ensured that he remained there till the end. The two of them decided that there was a reasonably fair equilibrium as they had to make sure they finished at ease with the fuel and car whole. McLaren will now race at this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix with a few changes to their car and are hopeful of winning again at the Grand Prix and carrying on the Istanbul win. They believe that their car is suitable for Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve track, and that they will produce good results there, where straight-line speed is vital. Whitmarsh said that winning there would be good as the track is not quick and it’s where Lewis has already won his first Grand Prix title three years ago. Red Bull teammates are strong in high speed areas, but the tracks at Montreal and Valencia are not that fast, therefore there will be no advantage for them, but definitely for the McLaren team, as they are strong at slow tracks.
While the McLaren car is being modified, no one knows what Red Bull, Ferrari or Mercedes come up with. The McLaren car has got a new Front Wing and new rear wing lower elements, as the one used in Turkish Grand Prix didn’t work. The cars will once again compete face to face at Canadian Grand Prix on June 13th.
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