The strain upon Whitmarsh, who has failed to win a title in his first four
campaigns in charge and is experiencing a dire start to his fifth, is
intense, but he maintained last night that he was still the man to turn
around a grisly season.
“I enjoy coming to motor racing to win, so I don’t like it when the car’s not
good enough, that’s for sure,” he said. “I’ve been around personally when
McLaren have won 100 races, and I’m sure we’re going to win some more. We’re
going to work hard to do that.”
McLaren are desperately thrashing around for any remedy for their woes, as
illustrated by the episode of the new wing, which could not be used because
it arrived after the deadline set by the FIA inspectors.
At the business end of the grid, meanwhile, the Silver Arrows’ one-lap
supremacy continued. It completed a treble of poles for Mercedes, the first
time they had accomplished such a feat since 1955.
While their race pace has thus far been more suspect, Rosberg still delivered
a significant statement of intent in getting the better of Hamilton with a
final qualifying lap of one minute 20.714 seconds.
“It’s to be enjoyed with caution,” said Rosberg, only too mindful that
Mercedes’ tyre-management deficiencies caused him to finish ninth after his
previous pole in Bahrain.
“It all went perfectly in qualifying but the race will be very different,
because these tyres are a real challenge.”
Recent history holds an auspicious portent for Mercedes, though, given that 17
of the last 22 pole-sitters here in Barcelona have gone on to take the
chequered flag.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, the championship leader, will start in third
place on the grid ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in fourth, while local favourite
Fernando Alonso managed only fifth.
Hamilton was plainly disappointed at being out-qualified by Rosberg, having
beaten all challengers by more than six tenths with an astonishing lap in
the second phase of qualifying.
But it has been a remarkable start to the season for the 28-year-old, who lies
third in the early running for the title despite having tried to dampen
public expectations during the winter.
The Briton, credited by principal Ross Brawn with galvanising the Mercedes
camp since his arrival from McLaren, said:
“When you come to a new team, everyone’s unsure of who you are and what they
can and cannot say around you. People build a perception of who you are. But
I hope I am helping to motivate and inspire everyone here.”