McLaren’s Phil Prew to chase Red Bull and watch out for Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault - Formula 1 News
McLaren’s Principal race engineer, Phil Prew, has said that the British team would have to catch the roaring Red Bull team and at the same time, have to watch out for the Ferrari, Mercedes and the Renault team.
Prew said that along with the Red Bull team, Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault will strike back hard in the upcoming Turkish Grand Prix.
The Principal, said, “We need to chase down the Red Bulls and also keep a wary eye on the cars behind, like Ferrari, Mercedes and indeed the Renaults, who’ve shown very good pace as well.” He further added that Ferrari team will be the one who will have
good Qualifiers in Turkey and will strike back hard.
Prew commented on McLaren’s 2011 car, MP4-26 and stated that it is in good shape to put up a fine show in the Turkish Grand Prix, adding that the Istanbul circuit will behave differently on the Pirelli tyres.
He said, “The tyre degradation is certainly going to be a large factor in Turkey. I think that will certainly be tending towards a three-stop race. I think the competitiveness of the field will force you - pretty much - to run multiple new tyres through
qualifying.”
Red Bull team is still fast in the Qualifiers than the McLaren team and this will be the main concern for the British team. This apprehension is well addressed by Prew, who explains where the McLaren team can have an advantage over the Red Bull team.
Prew explained that the tyre optimisation will be the key factor, along with the optimised engine modes and increased downforce induced by the exhaust system. Prew added that McLaren are almost half a second shy of Red Bull’s fastest time.
McLaren team has done well in the first three rounds of the 2011 season, to keep the Red Bull team in check. The British team will start the European part of the season with their nose in front and will strike hard to close their gap with the Red Bull team.
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