Hamilton: ‘We can’t hide the fact it’s been tough’

2011 Australian Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Barcelona, 2011

Lewis Hamilton admits McLaren face a tough start to the season in Melbourne:

"We can’t hide the fact that testing has been tougher than we expected: our test mileage hasn’t been as high as that of our rivals, nor have we had the outright pace of the fastest cars.

“Still, I have a good feeling with MP4-26: I like driving our car, I think it will look after its tyres quite well and I understand that we’ll be making further performance steps ahead of this opening race.

“Nevertheless, we know we go to Melbourne ready for battle: some teams are extremely well prepared – both from a pace and reliability point of view – but that can sometimes count for little in the unpredictable and somewhat chaotic opening races where it’s equally vital just to take points home.”

However he is optimistic ahead of the first race of the year: "I strongly believe that, while our preparations haven’t gone as smoothly as we’d have liked, I get the impression that we’ll be arriving in Melbourne with everything finally meshing together – and that makes me really excited."

And he’s looking forward to getting started following the postponement of the first race: "It’s felt like a very long winter.

“I started the new season feeling fitter and more positive than ever and I’ve maintained that enthusiasm and momentum despite a somewhat difficult few weeks of winter tests.”

Whitmarsh: ‘we’ve tested car beyond its limit’

Team principal Martin Whitmarsh said the pace the team had shown in testing was not reflective of how they would perform in Australia:

“Over the winter, we set ourselves some extremely ambitious performance targets for MP4-26. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes are an uncompromising team and, as with every car we build, we tend to push development to the limit.

“In some cases, we’ve pushed over those limits, and the resulting lack of mileage has invariably eaten into our pre-season preparation.

“However, it’s called testing for a reason – and testing MP4-26 beyond its limit has, in some ways, been highly instructive. In actual fact, we’ve gathered a huge amount of useful data about the car, its handling characteristics and its management of the tyres. So while we’ve further fine-tuned the package for Melbourne, we’ve once again set ourselves some extremely tough targets for this opening race weekend.

“So, do I think our testing pace is representative of the pace we’ll show in Australia? No.

“Do I think we head into the weekend as race favourites? Unfortunately, no.

“But do I feel that we have the capacity to surprise a few people and be competitive? Very much so.

“As with everything we do at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, we never give up: we’re fighters – that’s the spirit that has won us 20 world championships in the past and which makes us a team you can never under-estimate.”

2011 Australian Grand Prix


    Browse all 2011 Australian Grand Prix articles

    Image © Pirelli

    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

    Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

    85 comments on “Hamilton: ‘We can’t hide the fact it’s been tough’”

    1. If they didn’t solve reliability issue yet and they would retire some of early race, it will be one of the toughest season for them.

      1. Maybe it’s just been a bad run for them and they’re getting their gremlins out of the way before the season. Ferrari last year pounded round in testing but then had to change engines at Bahrain and then watched Fernando’s blow up in Malaysia (although it was probably an issue made worse by the fact he had no clutch).

        The biggest problem from their lack of reliability so far could just be getting data from real on track testing rather than it being an indication that their car will literally fail or maybe -as is more likely-I’m just very naive and find it hard to believe Mclaren won’t bounce back! :P

        1. From what Witmarsh says, I would suspect they know by now, what parts are to unreliable and do have a pretty solid package to start with a bit more coming when they sort those parts out.

          I got the impression from what Button said at the end of the Barcelona test, they mainly felt it was a case of not finding enough time for playing with setup enough in testing. So if they can sort that out in the simulator and get going in Melbourne, all is not lost for them.

          I certainly hope they are close enough to the top 2 to be challenging them for wins and podiums at least.

          1. Still pretty stark comparison between Webber’s upbeat comments about ‘fantastic winter’ at Red Bull. OK. Webber maybe talking their happy time up a wee bit just to rub other teams’ noses in it, but still their upbeat sounds are at the other end of the keyboard to the gloomy mood music coming out of McLaren.

            Going to be an interesting start to the new season and that’s a fact !

            1. I reckon it’ll be interesting in that, for the first time in a while, we might know very quickly how the rest of the season is going to pan out. Thats not a good thing really.

              Yes we knew and were wrong then just about right for the last two years if your going to nitpick.

            2. I think the tires are going to keep some uncertainty going all or most of the season, so while we may know who’s dominant from the start, there’ll be opportunity for all teams to stay in the mix.

      2. well, whatever comes it would not be worse than 2006 rear wing failure which Kimi was suffered :D

    2. To paraphrase: “It’s all bad”

      1. That’s pretty much how I read it.

        This kinda excites me in that McLaren are easily one of the best car developers on the grid. I can see a McLaren redemption story coming along.

        1. Redemption story was great in 09. Made me feel warm inside, redemptions gets boring, as Everton, eventually they get knackering.

          McLaren need a year when they come out of the blocks fast. An as they are the grids reknown developers, surley this means going conservative and moving on from there.

          1. Precisely, not much excitement in another year of McLaren starting badly, the drivers doing everything to secure some good points, the car becoming 2nd or 3rd fastest mid season, then a few DNFs and another almost-a-contender season finale. Great. McLaren are wasting Hamilton.

            1. McLaren are wasting Hamilton.

              Sure seams that way. I’d love to see a Hamilton/Newey combination, although it could be boring just watching him fly out front the whole time.

            2. If the McLaren is a complete shopping cart this season, I think Hamilton will indeed be off to RBR. I’d like to see that too in a lot of ways,plus I think it’d do him good to break free from the McLaren culture he’s lived for much of his life. But I think Vettel’s his match in terms of pace, just not in race technique. So they’d be some real battles for sure.

            3. I think Vettel’s his match in terms of pace, just not in race technique. So they’d be some real battles for sure.

              I hope the McLaren is fast this year for precisely that reason. Hamilton vs Vettel is the battle I’m really looking forward to, but they never seemed to get anywhere near each other last year.

    3. Let’s go Lewis! I’m wishing Mclaren allthe best!

    4. I’m devastated that Hamilton and Button are going to have a tough start to the year. *cough*

      1. One only needs to look at your avatar to see that your comments are genuine and most sincere. ;)

        1. Yep, no bias here at all ;)

    5. I still think they’re sandbagging.

      1. Having your exhaust system fail every 20 laps or so, isn’t “sandbagging”.

        1. Should have put in a winking smiley.

          Poe’s Law

          1. Indeed. Sarcasm doesn’t come across very well unless you use a “winkie smilie”. :)

          2. Interesting law, and very true. How did you discover that? or are you Mr Poe?

            1. I’ve taken an interest in evolution and Creationism for a long time (even before I began my studies in evolutionary biology). Mr Poe inhabited one of the forums I used to post on, and I learned of his Law from there.

              It’s referenced fairly frequently on the Internet now, in a lot of contexts besides religious fundamentalism.

            2. I wasn’t aware it was law?

              Mr Poe is on another forum?

            3. I think it would be more correct to call it Poe’s theory… but I digress…

        2. Maybe the solution is making it an easily replaced one and exchanging with every pit stop :-O

      2. They are not sandbagging for sure.

        Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull and even Sauber they all got timed laps in the low 1.21s, not McLaren.

        And they have not been able to do race runs during testing without the car breaking up.

        Right now they are hoping and praying that the upgrades they get for melbourne will work and there is no guarantee they will.

        You will see a very slow and unreliable mclaren running around melbourne. :-(

        1. Someone didn’t get the joke memo…

          1. lol red andy was serious when he made the original comment and there is no doubt about that!

        2. Well, the only thing that might make me a little suspicious is that McLaren have been so improbably inept that they must be up to something. Failing to let the drivers test the new tyres at the end of last season, testing the new car late, weird public launch, all with the bravura of a team with something special up its sleeve, but only to show poor track performance, a ton of reliability issues and a further inability to make use of the little on-track testing they have. Either they’re choking on their own smoke screen or they’ve got a very cunning plan indeed…

      3. Lol especially funny given your last COTD Andy.

        1. What was his last COTD? :)

            1. Thanks Steph. :)

    6. Whitmarsh can be more cringeworthy than Luca.Especialy given that they have produced a donkey.

      1. Whitmarsh can be more cringeworthy than Luca

        That’s going some!

        Especialy given that they have produced a donkey.

        That remains to be seen. But judging on what we’ve seen so far we can at least expect the McLaren’s to get to around half race distance, having done around 3 stops each, before the exhaust system finally calls it a day.

        1. Whitmarsh can be more cringeworthy than Luca

          That’s harsh man…

    7. No need for sarcasm guys ….. Remember; he who laughs last …….

      1. ….has a bottle of laughing gas? ;)

      2. Laughs loudest.

      3. … was the last to understand the joke? ;)

      4. …is Redbull, after winning the championship again.

      5. thinks slowest

      6. …has awkward moments at parties.

        1. Simply Brilliant!

      7. Still doesn’t get it :)

    8. I believe that Mclaren have simply tried to be over inventive with their new car and tried to incorporate too many radical ideas. I’m sure the car has bundles of potential however the success of this season for mcalren all depends on how quickly they can unlock the true pace of the car! The reliabilty issues have seemed to stem from the new packaging required to fit the current aero, however there must be large gains in that area otherwise im sure mclaren would not have invested so much r&d into it!! I fear the more naff cars the macca boys churn out the closer they come to losing hamilton and in that the best driver on teh grid!

      1. I guess you are right about that Teddy.

    9. I know it’s PR and PC, but does he always have to say “Vodafone McLaren Mercedes”? It hurts. It sounds like a corporation, not a team.

      1. I don’t see how it’s anything to do with ‘political correctness’; it’s entirely a public relations thing.

        1. It would have to do with PC if he was saying “The stupid ***, sh****, useless excuse of a team I am driving for…”

          1. Sorry, mixed Whitmarsh up with Lewis. Still, message remains the same.

          2. still, could have been worse denis, he could haved debuted for Minardi, or Williams and then found himself as a test driver for a season or two.

            1. What like a rookie? Bah!

    10. But do I feel that we have the capacity to surprise a few people and be competitive? Very much so.

      ‘surprising’ is not something you do by merely fighting for the last available points. And we’ve seen with Mercedes what you can gain even if your car looks miles off the pace. So if they sort it out and their CFD models are accurate, I think they still can go for the podium.

      1. Well I think they will suprise you with that!

        I would be suprised if they get beaten by the likes of HRT, Virgin and Lotus.

    11. UKfanatic (@)
      18th March 2011, 12:35

      mclaren started last season with the 3rd best car so it wouldnt be strange to see mclaren win the melbourne gp who knows? so many spices this year

    12. It’s not testing that made Red Bull and Ferrari look that strong, it’s what they did back in the factory. How many times Red Bull cars haven’t finished races last year despite having the strongest car?
      Y’all are so quick to judge and understand but i still think we should wait for the first race to really know where they all stand.

      1. Retirements because of car failure – just twice. Vettel in Australia and Korea.

        McLaren also twice, Button in Monaco and Lewis in Hungary.

        None for Ferrari.

        Total retirements including driver error/accidents, just five for McLaren, five for Red Bull and two for Ferrari. That’s very few all around.

        1. Absolutely. Buttons retirement in Monaco was due to the fact they left the bung in his sidepoint though wasnt it :-)

          I still cant believe to this day they didnt spot it.

          It is interesting though, as many have said. Bad or good reliability in testing doesnt always translate to the track in racing, weird though that is.

        2. Alonso had an engine failure in Malaysia and Hamilton had a wheel failure in spain too

          1. Both occurred in the last (or second last) lap I think, so it wasn’t strictly a retirement as they still kept position. If we’re counting problems that cost positions but not race finishes, there are a lot more: Vettel in Bahrain, Button in Spain…

    13. Whitmarsh: ‘we’ve tested car beyond its limit’

      Which is this case was less miles than any other team, and not that many race distances :-)

      I really hope they sort it out come race day. Talk about giving yourself a mountain to climb though with such a new design. Thats the McLaren way these days.

    14. Well Lewis comments werent so dreadful as the string of recent headlines suggest. Not dinging Keith, because the negative expectation is most relevant news aspect of his comments, one might say. But he also had some upbeat stuff in there.

      As for Whitmarsh, Im not impressed his defense that McLaren have been doing “stress tests,” thus the failures and idleness. So the other teams have not been simulating failure modes, but just running around the track at 9/10ths? Not a compelling excuse.

      But at the end of the day, all that matters is what happens in Australia.

    15. As the old saying goes..”When the Flag drops the ******** stops” Come on Lewis Give em Hell!!

      1. ‘********’ = ‘Mclaren’?

    16. lol @ “tested…beyond its limit”. These guys can’t even get the basic aerodynamics working and he comes out with thos statement. Mclaren needs to deploy realists and not men who engage in spin. It kills the drivers confidence when they are told a lie about the car’s performance capacity.

    17. Bigbadderboom
      18th March 2011, 17:36

      Just to put a spin on the general feeling about the MP4-26. Is it likely that it may be proving a difficult birth, but it may prove to be the car with the most development potential? I can see Mclaren coming on very strong through the season, plenty resources loads of cash and some good driver feedback. I for one will have a crafty couple of quid on Mclaren winning constructors!!!! :)

    18. Exactly Bigbadderboom, Whitmarsh isn’t sandbagging about the investment they’ve put in & they’re a canny lot in Woking.
      With 2 of the top 5 drivers in the car Melbourne is not a write-off either. Jenson’s famous “smooth” driving will fit well with the Pirelli degradation too.

    19. Was this an interview or a press statement? They seem like very long words for Hamilton

      1. Looks like standard, plain English to me. I don’t see what’s so discombobulating, opaque, or verbose about it.

        1. You have seen his twitter posts, right? I’m hardly one to talk but this paragraph

          “Nevertheless, we know we go to Melbourne ready for battle: some teams are extremely well prepared – both from a pace and reliability point of view – but that can sometimes count for little in the unpredictable and somewhat chaotic opening races where it’s equally vital just to take points home.”

          seems rather advanced for him, I think he probably said something like

          We’re ready for Melbourne, some teams have been fast and reliable in testing but the the first races are unpredictable. For sure the most important thing is to take points home.

          and a PR guy waved his magic thesaurus over it.

          1. I have, but do you speak to people in the language as you use on “ur mbile phone, lol”? (You probably don’t text like that, but you get my point)

            But your original point was about the words, not the level of detail communicated in the sentence. And it’s not like he’s a stranger to long sentences either. The only thing that seems strange is his phrasing, it does look like Legard wrote it!

    20. AlonSennaTres
      18th March 2011, 18:53

      i m happy

    21. The conspiracy theorists amongst us will not that these interviews are getting slightly more optimistic as we approach each race…

      To be honest I don’t see McLaren being much off where they were last year, let’s not forget that even though they won the second and fourth races they weren’t properly front-runners until they got back to Europe. Perhaps being a little further down will encourage them to try some gambles that, like last year, actually work and keep them up there until they find their speed.

      And then watch Red Bull and Ferrari be 0.5 seconds ahead and the prospect of a 3-way fight go down the toilet…

    22. It’s not about gathering data… it’s what you do with it that counts.

    23. I don’t think i’ve heard Lewis Hamilton so optimistic since testing began!

      Sounds to me like they’ve managed to nail a few of the problems they were having and are perhaps quietly confident they will surprise people.

    24. I know people are making a big deal about the lack of mileage McLaren has run over testing on the new car, and rightfully so. But they DID decide to use the old car at the very first test.

      That said, I’m sure they were always prepared to be a little behind, just not as behind as they actually were. As a fan, I hope they’ll get it together.

    25. All should be well now that it appears Martin Whitmarsh has drunk from the fountain of optimism and Lewis appears to have swallowed a dictionary.

      Looking forward to hearing such things as: “My tyres would appear to be somewhat lacking in grip” over the radio.

      I shall be fully convinced when Jenson says that he can probably do a one stop race, no problem.

      I would really like for this to be McLaren’s year, but you just know it’s not going to be easy for them.

    26. I like driving our car, I think it will look after its tyres quite well

      If the Pirellis really do expire as quickly as everyone is making out, could this be a case of ‘slow and steady wins the race’? There could be a few instances this year where a car that isn’t particularly fast, but looks after its tyres well could spring a surprise. This could be a bit of fun, actually!

      1. Bigbadderboom
        19th March 2011, 11:34

        Agreed, how the strategies evolve in Melbourne will be interesting to say the least. Drivers have spoken about the softer compounds literally “falling off”, the gradual degradation just finishes. I think hell for leather and stop 4 times is my preffered strategy!!! :)

    27. Stopping at the right time will be most important and only the driver will know when that is.

    Comments are closed.