McLaren hopes to be more competitive in Singapore
The Formula One caravan has finally moved towards its next rendezvous in Singapore for the fifteenth round of the year, which makes everyone excited as well as concerned. All the race-lovers keep holding their breath as they anticipate seeing one of the
most crucial and enduring races of the season unwrap.
Besides everything else, the performance of McLaren on this high-downforce and low-speed circuit of Singapore remains a question, as their car does not suit these characteristics well. The track is much similar to Hungaroring, where the team failed to perform
well, earlier this year.
At the Hungarian Grand Prix, the team kept struggling in order to chase its competitors but all in vain as the four cars of the two leading teams, Red Bull and Ferrari, claimed the top four positions. However, McLaren now claim that they have dealt well
with the issues and hope to do far better in Singapore.
Before the team left for this weekend’s event, its principal race engineer, Philip Prew said in an interview that this is going to be a big weekend for them and certainly they cannot afford to make any mistakes here. He was delighted to add that they have
overcome the technical problems they had faced at similar tracks earlier this season. “In Hungary we all recognized that the pace wasn’t where we needed to be, and since then we’ve had a whole number of upgrades on the car, some of which we’ve already run
at Spa and Monza”.
He exclaimed that he is looking for a very competitive week ahead as he is sure that the other top teams, Red Bull and Ferrari are going to be very fast. However, he is convinced that even they are not any less competitive than them. He added that their
latest modification is going to influence their performance well and could earn them some good points despite the bumps and slow turns of Marina Bay track.
FIA has also announced to carry out some strict tests before the Singapore race regarding the cars’ floor and front wings to assure that all teams play at same level on the field. This step has been immensely appreciated by many of sports’ analysts considering
it a good way to improve the repute of the sport. Many teams accused Red Bull and Ferrari of having more flexible front wings than permitted by FIA, which had given them an extra advantage in Hungary while McLaren denied exploiting any such rule time and again.
The team’s race engineer again said, “Only time will tell if we’ve done enough but we’re confident that we’ve added performance. We’re optimistic that the gap, which was massive by Formula One standards, has reduced.” Another major concern for the teams
at this time of the season is the engine usage. Both the McLaren team drivers, Button and Hamilton are already using their seventh new engine, out of the total eight allowed.
However, the team thinks that they are moving just right with their set target only that they hope not to face any unexpected issues before this race ends. Ferrari is currently running its eighth engine which means that on Friday the Italian team is expected
to use its old engine which would definitely effect their practice sessions. But, McLaren does not take it as an advantage as that has little to do with the performance at the final race day. Well, one more night to go and finally one of the most crucial yet
exciting races of the season would begin at the tricky track of Singapore.
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