McLaren pushing a bit too hard
McLaren saw just a 1 car finish once again at the Singapore grand prix giving Red Bull the advantage to increase their lead. McLaren is currently 2nd in the constructors’ standings just 24 points behind the leaders Red Bull. McLaren lost a lot of
ground as Lewis Hamilton was not able to finish the race and both of the Red Bull drivers finished on the podium in 2nd and 3rd places. The top 5 drivers are divided by just 25 points and the two McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson
Button are in 3rd and 5th places respectively. McLaren claims that they will do everything they can to ensure that they secure the best result possible in the final four races.
With the fight so closely poised, McLaren are hoping that the speed and proficiency of car upgrades will become even more vital to the team’s success. McLaren have 8 constructors’ titles to their name and McLaren will have to take a few risks by enforcing
some development parts on Suzuka as soon as they can, in order to save more time. The team is willing to throw everything they have in the mix, so as to get an advantage over their rivals.
“If we can push a modification forward - even if we have only limited components - we’d rather the drivers had them than wait until we had a comfortable set of spares. We are running on the very lean edge of what we’ve got”, explained McLaren managing director
Jonathan Neale during a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 'Phone-In' session.
Neale believes that both of the titles are in McLaren’s sight at the moment and could be claimed by anyone and is confident that the team’s hard work could still pay dividends as the championship reaches its climax. McLaren believes that they will be very
competitive at the final four races as they would be more suitable for McLaren.
“Ferrari and Red Bull will be pushing hard, and we will be doing the same. It’s tough to call. I think all we can do is shift the odds in our favour by working tirelessly to make sure the car is bullet-proof reliable, and the drivers don’t make mistakes
and hold their nerve”, said Neale.
McLaren believes that the team is only at risk from its factory’s end. The team is aware that they have both titles in their sight and they will have to race really hard in order to achieve both of them. McLaren currently has two world champions Jenson Button
and Lewis Hamilton. Both of the drivers are experienced in this situation so the team will make sure they take the workload properly. The team boss believes that he will take the team to win at each race so they will not change their strategy.
McLaren tested some upgrades at the Singapore grand prix two weeks ago and Neale is confident that the team will perform better than their rivals at the Japanese Grand Prix. The team is hoping that the test will certainly make a big difference in the car’s
performance this weekend.
“We are taking a reasonably big upgrade to Japan. We have got a front-wing upgrade, a new rear wing and there are some aerodynamic details around the floor. We’re certainly taking everything we took to Singapore - and more - to Japan”, he added.
He added that the team is taking the next season on a completely different level and these developments to the 2010 car will be helpful for it.
This is not the first time that McLaren is in this situation. Since the team has won 8 constructors’ title, they have the experience and they know how to handle the pressure. However, McLaren should be careful, as it seems that they are not thinking flexibly
and following the same strategy even after disappointing results since the past 4 races. The team should try to understand this particular situation and think twice before making any decisions or they will sink their own boat.
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