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McLaren believe they can bounce back from a disappointing performance in front of their home fans to lead the fight against Sebastian Vettel in this weekend’s German Grand Prix.
British duo Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, champions in 2008 and 2009 respectively, were left trailing at Silverstone two weeks ago as Spaniard Fernando Alonso secured Ferrari’s first win this year ahead of the two Red Bulls.
But McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale said his team believe that result was down to a dramatic change in technical regulations that has now been overturned - and not the underlying performance of the teams.
“Both of our drivers have won races this year and we’re not by any means being complacent about the progress that Ferrari has made, or the development of Red Bull, but our job is to beat both of them and that’s what we’re going to do.
“F1 isn’t something you can play safe in. It’s about taking risks and getting the balance right. And clearly when you are coming from behind, as we and Ferrari are, then you have to work very hard at that.”
German defending champion Vettel, 24, comfortably leads the title race with 204 points ahead of his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber on 124, with Alonso third on 112 and Hamilton and Button level fourth on 109 points. Times of India
Still, Vettel will be racing at home in Germany and he has won six of the nine races so far this season and has an 80-point lead over Red Bull teammate Webber, with Alonso another 12 points behind.
“For some, it may create some pressure or raise the expectations, but I don’t really feel it,” Vettel said about racing at home. “In fact, it may give me an extra push, maybe I can get a tenth (of a second) more here and there, which could be decisive on the track.”
Vettel, the defending F1 champion, won five of six races to start the 2011 season, has started all nine races so far from the front row — including seven pole positions — and has yet to finish worse than second this year.
But Ferrari has been having greater success lately and it’s no longer just the McLaren team of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button who are challenging Red Bull for the team title.
“I think Ferrari has taken a great step forward in the last couple of races and at Silverstone they were even, if not faster,” Vettel said. “We have to be realistic. It’s important to realize it and accept it.”
Red Bull leads the constructors’ standings with 328 points, ahead of McLaren with 218 and Ferrari with 164. USA Today
Pos Driver Team Points 1 Sebastian VettelRBR-Renault 204 2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 124 3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 112 4 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 109 5 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 109 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 52 7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 40 8 Nick Heidfeld Renault 34 9 Vitaly Petrov Renault 31 10 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 28 11 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 25 12 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 10 13 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 9 14 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 8 15 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 8 16 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 4 17 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 2 18 Pedro de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 0 19 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 0 20 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 0 21 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 0 22 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 0 23 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 0 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 0 25 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 0 26 Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 0
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