McLaren vows to eliminate errors
Date published : 09 Apr 2010 - 17:57:50
McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh says the team hasn't met the exacting targets it set for itself so far this season, despite winning a race and lying second in the constructors' championship.Although both drivers have scored in all three races held so far, points have slipped through their grasp through a lack of qualifying speed and tactical miscues.Whitmarsh admits the team still needs to improve the way it executes race weekends if it is to fully capitalise on the highly promising performance of its MP4-25 car.By our own very high standards, we've not fully met our very high expectations in the first three races, despite having what we feel is the necessary race pace to compete at the front and despite having won the Australian Grand Prix, he said.That might sound overly self-critical, given that we are second in the constructors' championship, and given that Jenson [Button] and Lewis [Hamilton] are both close to the top of the drivers' championship, but that's merely a reflection of the fact that we aim to excel at all times.So I regard that objective as a positive: It's our desire to improve and to eliminate mistakes from the operation that will make us stronger championship contenders. There's no denying that our successes Jenson's integration into the team, his win in Melbourne, and some of the greatest drives of Lewis's career have given us a great early-season boost.Now we are looking to establish ourselves as consistent challengers at the front, and to pick up the maximum available points on a regular basis.Whitmarsh expects next weekend's Chinese Grand Prix to reveal the true state of play at the front of the F1 field, and is confident McLaren will soon be able to take the fight to early-season pacesetter Red Bull.One of the greatest qualities of this team is its considerable strength in depth, he said.After establishing a strong and solid start to the season, we're confident that we'll become an even more formidable contender as we head into China and then the start of the European season.Meanwhile Button believes he has made a breakthrough in finding set-up solutions that will give his car a more consistent balance.I think I've made some real progress in that area, he said.I wasn't completely happy with the balance of the car in Malaysia, so I spent a day back at the McLaren Technology Centre looking at how we could have done things differently in Sepang while also looking ahead to Shanghai.Along with my engineers, I think we've developed an even better understanding of the MP4-25.We know how to fine-tune the car's balance and how to develop it over a race weekend.Of course, it's a continuous process, but the overall feeling is that we're moving forwards which, again, is always a positive.
