McLaren deny rumours surrounding lack of pace - Formula 1 news
McLaren have denied rumours surrounding its lack of pace this year, as the team gears up for the final testing session in Barcelona, which will continue for four
days, starting from Thursday, February 28, 2013.
After the first couple of tests in Jerez and Barcelona, 2012 champions Red Bull looked to be strong yet again. Both their drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber
did not face any major issues and seemed to be strong in all departments.
However, last year’s runner up team McLaren failed to get the attention of everyone, as they struggled a lot with tyre wear. Their newly hired driver Sergio Perez
stated that the degradation was extreme and it could possibly lead to a bizarre situation during the season opener in Australia.
On the other hand, his team-mate Jenson Button also seemed a bit confused on a few occasions, as he gave mixed remarks. He claimed that the car felt good at times,
but lacked consistency.
Despite all these comments, McLaren’s managing director Jonathan Neale believes that the situation is under control and the team will come out strongly right from
the start of the 2013 season.
He claimed, “I don’t think we’ve seen anybody yet do a laptime that we felt we couldn’t have done if we’d changed the fuel load.”
However, Neale went onto say,
“A bit like the beginning of last season, nobody stands out as being head and shoulders above everybody else at the moment and nobody appears to be hanging off the back either.”
McLaren have been in the news since the departure of Lewis Hamilton at the end of last year. The 2008 Formula 1 champion started off his career with the British
outfit and remained there for six straight seasons.
However, he eventually decided to make a move to Mercedes, replacing seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who announced his second retirement from the
sport in 2012.
Other than Hamilton, McLaren’s technical director Paddy Lowe also decided to make a move from his current team. He contract will end at the end of the 2013 season
and he will most probably replace Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn, who is yet to make an announcement on his future.
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