McLaren boss says don’t write team off
March 11th, 2011 - 2:43 pm ICT by ANILondon, Mar. 11 (ANI): McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh insists it is too early to write off the team’s title challenge, despite doubts raised by his two superstar drivers this week.
Lewis Hamilton has said he cannot win the 2011 world championship with the new MP4-26 unless the car is improved. And teammate Jenson Button does not expect to be able to compete for a podium spot at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 27.
McLaren have also been hit by a string of reliability problems that have restricted them in pre-season testing.
Whitmarsh, however, remained defiant.
“It’s simply too early to say anything definitive about the MP4-26 or indeed about any other 2011 Formula One car. Time without number, motorsport pundits have come unstuck when they’ve attempted to extrapolate testing times to predict race results - and I’m not about to join their number now,” The Sun quoted him, as saying.
“Suffice to say we’ve had a few reliability issues during testing so far. But we’re confident things are going in the right direction,” he added.
McLaren’s early struggle is bad news for the team, for Hamilton and Button fans - and for Formula One in general.
With Mercedes also appearing to be some way off the pace, the first Grand Prix in Australia looks set to be a straight shoot-out between Red Bull and Ferrari. (ANI)
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Tags: australian grand prix, bad news, car time, doubts, early struggle, formula one car, going in the right direction, jenson button, lewis hamilton, martin whitmarsh, motorsport, mp4, podium, pundits, red bull, reliability issues, reliability problems, superstar, teammate, title challenge