“It is painful,” conceded Whitmarsh, who explained that he had imparted some
strong words to his colleagues in last night’s debrief.
Button, similarly, did not underestimate the scale of McLaren’s challenge.
“We won’t be fighting towards the front, and it’s going to be quite a big
gap,” the 2009 world champion said.
“We do have a lot of visible new parts of the car, and we are working flat-out
to improve. But the thing with this sport is that everyone else is moving
forward, too. It is hard. I am already 63 points behind Sebastian.”
Perez, still seeking to deflect criticisms of a torrid start to his rookie
year at McLaren, also dismissed any idea that the team could be contenders
for this year’s world championship. “It’s not realistic to think that we
are going to be fighting for the title,” the 23-year-old Mexican said. “It’s
the fifth race and we’re still two seconds a lap slower.”
Lewis
Hamilton, by contrast, exudes a confidence that he can sustain his
unexpectedly strong start for new employers Mercedes, even if he is being
forced to deny an extraordinary rumour in Germany that chairman Niki Lauda
is aiming to sign triple world champion Vettel for 2014, potentially to
replace Nico Rosberg.
“It’s not something I need to think about, because it’s not going to happen,”
he said, tersely, despite Red Bull motorsport director Helmut Marko recently
being quoted as saying that “Niki should absolutely be trying to get Vettel”.
Hamilton, lying third in the early reckoning for the drivers’ championship
behind Vettel and Lotus’s
Kimi Raikkonen, argued: “Nico qualified on pole in the last race, so he
clearly has the speed and deserves to be here. I have just come to the team
and
“I’m not doing too badly, so I doubt they will be replacing me. It doesn’t
affect me in the slightest. Why should it? I’m comfortable where I am. I
have a solid contract and a great lawyer, as have Mercedes.”