“I think we travel to Sepang mindful that the characteristics of the (Sepang) circuit probably won't suit our car as well as it will suit some of the others,” said the 30-year old Brit in a preview of the upcoming Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend.
His comments were echoed by the McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh also, who insisted that his team should keep its feet on the ground and continue to work endlessly on the development of the McLaren MP4-25, as they are still behind pace-setters Red Bull Racing and Ferrari.
“We’re under no illusions that the regular pacesetters will once again be up at the front, but I think we’ve now shown that we’re a match for the competition – particularly with our race pace, which is up there with the very best,” said Whitmarsh.
As for Lewis Hamilton, the 2008 F1 champion insisted that this year's Malaysian Grand Prix will be far more suited for his team as compared to last year, when he started from 13th place and had to settle for a poor 7th place at the finish line. He did admit though that qualifying remains a problem for McLaren this season, which he hopes will be taken care of soon enough.
“This year, I think we’ve got a car that will be far better suited to the circuit than we did last year, so I’m heading to Malaysia optimistic of a good result. (...) However, I still think it might be difficult to make up the difference that’s needed in qualifying. Hopefully, that’s something that we’ll be able to solve as soon as possible,” added Hamilton.
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