Martin Whitmarsh Eager To Return To Winning Ways

Martin Whitmarsh is hopeful that McLaren can return to their winning ways this year, after a disastrous start to the new season for the Woking-based outfit. Since Lewis Hamilton’s departure during the winter period to Mercedes, McLaren has entered an uncompetitive streak that has left them without a single podium finish so far this season.

This time last season, McLaren had already secured one race victory and four further podium finishes. This amounted to 92 points, only nine behind Red Bull. This season has so far been a completely different story for the Woking-based outfit, who have so far scored a meager 23 points. Both Jenson Button and Sergio Perez have contributed to that tally, however the team’s overall lack of pace has been largely down to their MP4-28, which has been a frustrating and stark step back from their 2012 machine.

However, team principal Martin Whitmarsh is confident the team can return to their former glory. Admittedly a Championship challenge is now highly unlikely, especially with Red Bull, Lotus and Ferrari’s competitive starts to the season. Despite McLaren’s disappointing start to the season, Whitmarsh is eager to see his team at least return to the podium in future races.

“The truth is I just want to see us getting back on the podium and getting on the top step.” Explained Martin Whitmarsh, in an interview with Sky Sports F1 after the Bahrain Grand Prix. “I am thinking more about that and it is one step at a time. I didn’t enjoy all of the race today, but I enjoyed quite a lot of it which is nice, but going racing when you don’t think you can win is not something that I enjoy particularly. I want to get back to the point where we are arriving on a Thursday with the anticipation that ‘we can win this weekend’. That is where we have to get to.”

During the Bahrain Grand Prix, the McLaren duo of Jenson Button and Sergio Perez fought extremely hard between each other. The Mexican ace, who has replaced Lewis Hamilton at the team, almost collided with his team-mate on numerous occasions, however Martin Whitmarsh firmly believes it was the right thing to do to let the two race against each other, despite Jenson Button’s comments over the radio.

“I have told him [Perez] that one of the maneuvers was beyond what is acceptable, but he is a young guy and I want him to enjoy the moment and enjoy what he did on Sunday with some really spirited driving.” Continued Martin Whitmarsh, “I had a lot of people telling me to ‘stop this, stop this it is hurting us,’ but I didn’t and I think we have already seen a few times this season that if you don’t then the guy behind is always going to think he was faster. It can go horribly wrong, but I think in the long-term it was the best thing to do and let both of the guys know they are racing each other. Some of the driving was marginal between the two of them but that is what happens when you let your drivers race.”

McLaren will be hoping that their upgrade package scheduled for the Spanish Grand Prix next time out will enable the team to continue progressing, after a mediocre start to the new season. McLaren are unaccustomed to such uncompetitiveness in the sport, and will unquestionably return to their renowned strength as the season progresses. However, Championship glory is as good as over for both Jenson Button and Sergio Perez, however the duo will continue striving for victories at every available opportunity.

Picture Copyright © McLaren F1 Team

Sauber Frustrated After Uncompetitive Indian Grand Prix

Both Sauber drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez endured yet another frustrating race at the Indian Grand Prix, which saw Sergio Perez retire after 20 laps and Kamui Kobayashi struggle within the midfield for the majority of the race. However, the team are confident of an improvement next weekend at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

After suffering greatly from blistering on the tyres throughout the early stages of the race, Sergio Perez was forced to become the first driver to make a scheduled pit stop only several laps into the race. This put the Mexican driver at a disadvantage early on, and saw him plummet through the order. As Perez tried to overtake the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo, he picked up a right rear puncture which subsequently damaged the car and saw him retire from the race.

“Today was a total disappointment.” Admitted Sergio Perez, who has not scored a World Championship point since the Singapore Grand Prix. “First of all I had to pit after 14 laps because the front left tyre was blistering badly. We don’t know yet why this happened. I wanted to recover the lost positions but touched Daniel Ricciardo’s front wing when I overtook him. The rear right tyre came off the rim and damaged something at the rear of the car. So my race was over after 20 laps.”

With one Sauber driver entering retirement in the opening stages of the race, all hope of a points scoring finish for the Hinwil-based outfit lied solely on the shoulders of Kamui Kobayashi. Since finishing on the podium at the Japanese Grand Prix, Kobayashi has fallen off the radar somewhat with several uninspiring drivers for the Japanese driver. This week saw Kobayashi once again struggled within the midfield, on his way to 14th position.

“I have to say it wasn’t our weekend here.” Explained a downcast Kamui Kobayashi, whose position with Sauber next season is still under speculation. “In the race I was never alone, I always had someone in front of me but not enough straight line pace to overtake. This was frustrating. I was stuck behind Daniel Ricciardo and there was nothing I could do. The issue with Pastor Maldonado was a bit strange. He had overtaken me but then he suddenly came on my racing line again. I could not avoid having contact.”

Despite Pastor Maldonado’s race being ruined after the collision with the Sauber driver, Kamui Kobayashi was able to avoid a penalty and 14th was the best he could achieve. Both Perez and Kobayashi will be looking for a better result next weekend at Abu Dhabi, as they remain 20 points behind Mercedes in the Constructors’ Championship.

Picture Copyright © Sauber Motorsport AG

Sebastian Vettel Takes Pole As Red Bull Lock-Out Front Row At Suzuka

Sebastian Vettel has taken his 34th career pole at Suzuka, after a dominant qualifying session for tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix. The reigning World Champion will be joined by Mark Webber on the front row of the grid, after Red Bull dominated qualifying. Jenson Button qualified 3rd, but will incur a five-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change.

The Force India of Paul di Resta was the first driver to take to the track as the all-important qualifying session got underway, with many drivers immediately leaving the pits to take to the track. The Scot set the initial pace with a 01:33.661, before the Lotus duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean momentarily shared the top spot. As Sergio Perez skipped through the gravel at turn seven, the Ferrari of Felipe Massa stormed to the top with a 01:32.946.

However, the Ferrari driver’s reign at the top was short-lived, as the reigning World Champion of Sebastian Vettel flew to the top with a brilliant 01:32.608. As the opening session of qualifying progressed, many drivers further down the order opted for the softer Pirelli tyre compound. Kimi Raikkonen returned to the top, before the likes of Sergio Perez, Kamui Kobayashi and Romain Grosjean each shared the top spot. Michael Schumacher was lucky to progress to Q2, after initially struggling to set a competitive lap time within the 107% rule. Bruno Senna failed to progress through to Q2, along with the usual suspects of the two Caterhams, Marussias and HRTs.

Local hero Kamui Kobayashi was the first driver to take to the track as Q2 got underway, and set the initial pace with a 01:32.368. As the majority of the drivers gradually took to the track, the ever-dominant Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel glided to the top of the timing sheets with a scintillating 01:31.501. This time remained unbeaten as the second session drew to a conclusion, as Lewis Hamilton once again struggled to assert his authority over proceedings. Both Felipe Massa, Paul di Resta, Michael Schumacher, Pastor Maldonado, Nico Rosberg, Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne were knocked out after Q2.

The all-important top-ten shootout began with the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen taking to the track immediately, and setting the initial pace with a 01:32.208. The Finn’s reign at the top failed to last for long, however, as Sebastian Vettel silenced the opposition with an absolutely mesmerizing 01:30.839. Mark Webber slotted neatly into 2nd position behind his team-mate, locking-out the front row for the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

Sebastian Vettel’s time at the top went unbeaten as the top ten shootout drew to a close, as Kimi Raikkonen suffered an embarrassing end to his session by beaching his Lotus in the gravel on the exit of turn 14. However, the Finn was able to continue as local hero Kamui Kobayashi went 4th fastest behind the Red Bull duo and the McLaren of Jenson Button. Lewis Hamilton endured a frustratingly uncompetitive qualifying session, ultimately ending the session 9th overall.

With the Red Bull duo looking unstoppable out in front, one would expect either Sebastian Vettel or Mark Webber to take victor in tomorrow’s 53-lap race. However, anything can happen in Formula 1, and in this unique season nothing is straightforward. With the likes of Kamui Kobayashi and Romain Grosjean qualifying high up the order, an exciting race is expected around the Suzuka circuit.

Pos  Driver                Team                 Time            Gap   
 1.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault     1m30.839s
 2.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault     1m31.090s  + 0.251
 3.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes     1m31.294s  + 0.451
 4.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari       1m31.700s  + 0.861
 5.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault        1m31.989s  + 1.059
 6.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari       1m32.022s  + 1.183
 7.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari              1m32.114s  + 1.275
 8.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault        1m32.208s  + 1.369
 9.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes     1m32.327s  + 1.488
10.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes no time
Q2 cut-off time: 1m32.272s                                   Gap **
11.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari              1m32.293s  + 0.792
12.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes 1m32.327s  + 0.826
13.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes             1m32.469s  + 0.968
14.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault     1m32.512s  + 1.011
15.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes             1m32.625s  + 1.124
16.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m32.954s  + 1.453
17.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari   1m33.368s  + 1.867
Q1 cut-off time: 1m33.370s                                    Gap *
18.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault     1m33.405s  + 1.376
19.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault     1m34.657s  + 2.628
20.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth    1m35.213s  + 3.184
21.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth         1m35.385s  + 3.356
22.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth    1m35.429s  + 3.400
23.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault     1m35.432s  + 3.403
24.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth         1m36.734s  + 4.705

107% time: 1m38.471s

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