GreenBkk Formula 1 | McLaren to surprise rivals in Australian GP - Whitmarsh

McLaren to surprise rivals in Australian GP - Whitmarsh

McLaren drivers discuss rivalry

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has said that his team will surprise by being competitive in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix next week.

Whitmarsh's confidence comes despite a lack of pace and reliability for Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button during pre-season testing in Spain.

"Do I think we head into the weekend as favourites? No," said Whitmarsh.

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

The McLaren MP4-26 has proved disappointingly slow during testing, and the team languishes 11th on total mileage completed of all the F1 teams' new cars - ahead only of Hispania Racing's challenger, which will not run until practice in Australia.

Lewis Hamilton and McLaren have struggled in pre-season testing

Whitmarsh explained: "Over the winter, we set ourselves some extremely ambitious performance targets for MP4-26. We 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."

While no one is expecting a repeat of 2009, when McLaren's MP4-24 proved disastrously slow early in the season, many commentators have wondered whether the team have become prone to making mistakes in design that are only highlighted when the car hits the track.

Whitmarsh believes this is not the case. "Do I think our testing pace is representative of the pace we'll show in Australia? No," he added.

"We never give up: we're fighters - that's the spirit that has won us 20 world championships [drivers' and constructors'] in the past and which makes us a team you can never underestimate."

McLaren's drivers are similarly optimistic about prospects for the Australian Grand Prix, with 2009 world champion Button refusing to rule out a Melbourne hat-trick.

"I'm regularly asked if I can make it three wins in a row this year," he said. "On paper that might not look likely, but seriously, who knows? I most definitely wouldn't rule it out.

"Albert Park always seems to create unpredictable races, and we often see fast cars running out of sequence - and the excitement that brings. With the added issue of multiple tyre stops, it could be a very exciting and unpredictable weekend."

Martin Whitmarsh (centre) reckons his men can deliver in Australian GP

His team-mate, 2008 world champion Hamilton, added: "I've maintained my enthusiasm and momentum despite a somewhat difficult few weeks of winter tests.

"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 it, 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.

"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.

"I get the impression that we'll be arriving in Melbourne with everything finally meshing together - and that makes me really excited."

Credit: BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)