Team hopeful Hamilton and Button can continue good form in Belgium and Italy
Last Updated: August 24, 2011 1:06pm
Competitive: Hamilton and Button
McLaren are hopeful their car will be best suited to the demands of the next two tracks on the Formula One calendar as they seek a hat-trick of victories in their attempts to close the gap to pacesetters Red Bull.
Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button respectively took the chequered flag in Germany and Hungary prior to F1's summer break and McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale thinks they can deliver more of the same, both at this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix and the Italian GP next month.
Spa-Francorchamps and Monza both feature long straights and Neale said that McLaren's improvements in both race pace and, in particular, qualifying performance had enabled them to spend time honing their car's DRS rear wing - which offers a straightline speed boost - with the next two races in mind.
"We've had competitive race cars for some time now - both Lewis and Jenson have shown very good race pace compared to Red Bull for maybe six or seven races," Neale said during a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Phone-In on Wednesday. "Qualifying pace is where we've fallen short and we haven't put the cars on the right part of the grid. I'm pleased to say that, except for the slight blip at the British Grand Prix, the trend has been good and we've been closing in.
"Now that we've got ourselves into a situation where we are more competitive in qualifying and race pace, we have been able to devote time to the DRS system and my expectations are that our DRS system will be competitive at the next few races."
Performance
Neale explained that McLaren have concentrated largely on adding aerodynamic downforce to their MP4-26 - something that is less of a factor at Spa and Monza than at other tracks in determining a car's overall speed.
"What we've tried to do is add performance to the car in a variety of ways, but particularly adding downforce. One of the ways in which you get the best DRS is to give up a little bit of your optimum wing design," he said.
"To make the optimum rear wing, you wouldn't make a DRS-enabled rear wing - it's not as aero efficient as a conventional rear wing. But when you're chasing for downforce and trying to catch the rest of the field up, you have a choice to make: you want to get the downforce and the aero efficiency from the car, or are you actually after the greater drag reduction?"
Neale also stressed that McLaren will continue to strive to develop this season's car, despite their increasingly parlous position in championship terms. With eight races including Sunday's remaining, Hamilton stands 88 points behind Vettel, while Button is 100 points adrift.
Meanwhile, McLaren lie 103 points behind Red Bull in the constructors' standings.
Choice
"At some point we're all faced with the choice about what do we do in terms of next year's car versus this year's car. At the moment, I think we've got the balance right and we continue to develop the MP4/26. There are a series of upgrades planned for these next two races and a package for Singapore as well," Neale added.
"If you're one of the top teams and you're running first, second or third in the championship, it's a brave man that puts the tools down halfway through the season and says 'That'll do me'. Our workforce, our drivers, our sponsors and our fans expect us to fight through until the last race. We're here to run deep into the season."
Credit: Sky Sports (www.skysports.com)
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