McLaren: Fuel if you think it’s over
McLaren-Mercedes has refused to be downcast after a surprisingly lacklustre first practice day for the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne and has hinted that its cars were running with heavy fuel loads
David Coulthard was fourth quickest in today's sessions, 0.4secs quicker than fifth-placed Mika Hakkinen. They were headed by the Ferraris of Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher, plus Jarno Trulli's surprisingly swift Jordan-Honda.
Team boss Ron Dennis, who hit back earlier this week about rumours of constant reliability problems, suggested the McLarens were running heavier than the opposition in Friday's Free Practice sessions.
"As always on Friday, the lap times merely reflect the different fuel loads," he said. "Our performance appears to be quite good and reasonably consistent."
Mercedes motorsport chief Norbert Haug backed up Dennis's comments: "We learned a lot today and had a trouble free opening for the new season. Obviously it is difficult to judge where we are in comparison to our competitors. David's and Mika's positions today do not necessarily reflect what they can achieve tomorrow [Saturday]."
Coulthard was also buoyant after the session, despite trailing the team's arch enemy and a rank outsider: "I'm pleased with our performance today. Considering the levels of fuel we were running I'm comfortable with where we are at the moment."
Hakkinen, who went off on to the grass during the second session, added: "I managed to achieve a good feel for the circuit and get the balance of the car to a level which can help us ensure we are on the front row for Sunday's race."
Share Or Save This Story
Why McLaren is the only Mercedes team without the latest power unit at Silverstone
McLaren still to investigate why it's losing to Mercedes on the straights, despite same PU
Why becoming a world champion for the first time has its own pressures
Bagnaia undergoes successful arm surgery, targets MotoGP return at Silverstone
Why F1's future engine rules offer new opportunities but also new pitfalls
How the new WRC event format at Rally Estonia will work
Bedrin commands GB3's European leg to build sizeable points lead
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments