The data makes it doubly frustrating that all those tenths of a second clawed
back against the opposition were lost in one fell swoop thanks to a
technical issue. It was noted in Spain that the fastest pit stops in the
world are no use if you have one which costs you the race, something McLaren
have been guilty of too often this year.
In the end, Hamilton crashed out anyway after being hit by Williams’ Pastor
Maldonado with two laps of the race remaining.
Although the Venezuelan was deemed to be the guilty party by the stewards,
collecting a drive-through penalty post-race, McLaren team principal Martin
Whitmarsh suggested his driver should have banked safe points rather than
fight for third place on tyres which were shot, and with a driver who has
earned a reputation as slightly reckless.
“With hindsight you have to say if you are dealing with someone like that then
you maybe have to take a different approach,” Whitmarsh said.
Jenson Button, meanwhile, predicted McLaren would bounce back from their
disappointing race in Valencia to post a strong result at Silverstone next
week.
Button has never managed to finish on the podium at his home race, but after
his eighth place in Valencia he is desperate for a second win of the season,
and believes his car should be strong around the Northamptonshire circuit’s
fast, flowing corners.
“We’re good at high speed,” he said. “That’s our strength. Our weakness is low
speed. We still don’t know why. We’ve just got to make sure we don’t lose
too much in the low speed corners there, which there are now at Silverstone.
But it’s a circuit where we should be strong.” Asked if he felt he was still
in the championship race — Button is 62 points behind Ferrari’s Fernando
Alonso — he added: “Definitely.
“Sebastian [Vettel] and Lewis were fighting for the lead and now they’re 25-23
points behind. It’s flipped in one race.
“I’m a long way behind it the championship but it’s still possible.But
I’m not thinking about that. I’m thinking about going to my home grand prix,
and driving a fast, flowing circuit which hopefully our car should work well
on.”