The teams’ tales after the Korean Grand Prix (Part 5)
Martin Whitmarsh
The McLaren team Principal had a very mixed sort of the day. The two team drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, marked fourth and fifth places in the Drivers’ Championship prior to this race. With these positions and poor finishes in the past few race their chances to stay in the battle of the top five drivers of the season seemed pretty dull.
However, with the race of last week Hamilton has revived his battle, while on the other hand, the chances of his teammate have been badly shaken as he finished the race at 12th place.
Now as the team principal looks back at the race he exclaimed, "Today's race was an incredibly challenging one for all the drivers - they had to battle variable grip and poor light - and as such it was easy for them to make mistakes.”
He believes that none of the team drivers made any big errors which not only make him proud but also he is now more confident on their ability to do even better in the last two races of the season. He concluded telling that he was very happy for Hamilton as he proved being a great racer yet again.
Moreover, for Button he proclaimed that the team is to sit together and make the final strategy for him in the upcoming race.
Lotus
Heikki Kovalainen
The 13th place finish for the driver was a very positive and encouraging sign. As he walked out of the track he talked to the reporters saying, "It was another excellent result for the team today. In tricky conditions like that with people making mistakes, we could have seen our tenth position under threat, but we were there at the end and that is what counts.”
While recalling the events of the day he said that as laps passed on, the track kept turning more tough and challenging. However, he really enjoyed driving on the track, and went on reminding himself that all the drivers were undergoing the same conditions.
He also told that he was happy by the fact that he did not have to face any major problems and was able to get through the track safely until the finish point.
Jarno Trulli
While Kovalainen was successful in coming out of the day with a clean finish, his teammate suffered badly and had to retire from the race.
As he talked to the journalist in the post race press conference Trulli said, "It was a disappointing day but I'm pleased that the team has taken another step towards tenth. I felt that there was a possible hydraulics problem when we were behind the safety car. I really struggled to turn in at the first corner and had a spin, and despite the team trying to get me back out it was all over."
Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer
The Chief Technical Officer of Lotus called the day as a successful one for Formula One saying that he was happy that finally the cars were able to go out on the track as it initially seemed that the rain storm would not permit them.
He further added that the Korean fans and everyone who was out on the track was very excited and thrilled and this made the event a successful one. He was thrilled to say that the race fans were also lucky to have the best treat of the season as this race had been the most awe-inspiring and nerve tickling round of the season giving a very welcoming note to Korea in the Formula One calendar.
He concluding saying, “They were rewarded with an historic event, with the race finishing in the dark and some excellent action up and down the field.”
To be continued...
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