Hamilton: I feel more relaxed and ready for new season than ever before
Mar.10 (Reuters) 2008 Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton limbered up for the season, which starts in Melbourne next week, by driving reporters around a track in southern England in McLaren’s fearsome MP4-12C GT3 race-spec sportscar. He looked sharp, hungry to be back behind the wheel and determined to focus on the future. The championship [...]
DRS combined with F-duct is latest F1 gizmo
Mar.9 (GMM) McLaren and Mercedes look to be leading the way with the latest technical ingenuity in F1 as the first round of the 2012 season looms. Auto Motor und Sport reports that the two teams are set to combine the button-activated DRS system with a sort of additional F-duct at the rear of their [...]
Alguersuari talking to McLaren about test driver role
Mar.8 (GMM) Jaime Alguersuari is reportedly in talks with McLaren about becoming a test driver for the team. The former Toro Rosso racer was speaking with Spanish radio station Cadena Ser, after being revealed as a radio co-commentator for the 2012 season with Britain’s BBC. “I am talking to a top team and there have [...]
McLaren: Now our focus turns to Melbourne…
Mar.4 (McLaren) Bright and sunny in the morning, eventually clouding over before an end-of-day shower just before the chequered flag. Final day of 2012 pre-season testing and Lewis Hamilton resumed testing duties of the team’s proposed race-one aerodynamic upgrade. The aim of today’s programme was to continue the analysis started yesterday by Jenson – and [...]
McLaren: We had an hydraulics issue in the morning
Mar.3 (McLaren) Warm and sunny in the morning, before growing increasingly overcast. A brief rainshower hit the track at 4pm. Maximum ambient temperature 15.9°C, maximum track temperature 32.2°C Today was Jenson Button’s last day in the car before Melbourne and, appropriately, he spent it evaluating the new race package we intend to race in Australia [...]
McLaren: Learned quite a lot and improved a few things
Mar.2 (McLaren) Foggy and overcast at dawn, clearing by mid-morning to remain warm and sunny for the rest of the day. Maximum ambient temperature 18.9°C, maximum track temperature 37.2°C Second day of testing at Barcelona, and Lewis jumped into the car today. When early-morning fog kept the circuit closed, the team continued rehearsing full-race-crew pitstops [...]
McLaren: We made good progress
Mar.1 (McLaren) First day of the final pre-season test and the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team continues preparations ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, running Jenson (Thur/Sat) and Lewis (Fri/Sun) at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya. The team is planning on gradually introducing a suite of new components to the MP4-27 during this test. Focus for the [...]
McLaren: It’s 100 per cent game on for the title
Feb.28 (GMM) World champions Red Bull are the obvious pre-season favourites, while Ferrari struggle to understand their complex F2012 and Mercedes admit that they are not yet ready to win, but the noises emanating from the McLaren camp are upbeat and positive. Compared to last winter, the difference is stark, as team boss Martin Whitmarsh [...]
McLaren: Pleasing end to a very constructive week
Feb.24 (McLaren) Team report on the fourth and final day of F1 pre-season testing at Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team manager David Redding, said: “Today was spent completing some of the fundamental tests that we don’t normally get the opportunity to do at race weekends. We also used the time to [...]