Austrian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - McLaren

Quotes from McLaren:

Jenson Button - First, I think it’s great that we’re going back to Austria. Obviously, the Austrian Grand Prix has such a lot of history, the country has had some great drivers and champions in the past, and it’s also currently got a world-class Grand Prix team, so it makes a lot of sense for us to be racing there again. Second, I think it’s a great venue, a fantastic location for a Grand Prix. From my previous visits, I remember the clear mountain air, the cool morning temperatures before the sun hit the paddock, and the fast, sweeping corners that still largely exist, and which give this circuit a great feel from the cockpit. I remember the racing line for Turn 1 would lead us far out over the exit kerbs and onto the Tarmac run-off - it was crazy! It’ll be interesting to see what has changed in the intervening 10 years - I hear that the track has been left largely unchanged, but that the pits and paddock have been renovated. I think that’s a good call - the track is simple but great. A mini-classic.”

Kevin Magnussen - "It’s strange to be able to say it, but, of all the drivers on the F1 grid, I’ve probably got the most recent experience of racing at the Red Bull Ring, because two rounds of the World Series by Renault were held there last summer. It’s a very cool place - it’s a circuit where you never really get to rest in the cockpit because the track is always going somewhere; there’s only really one ‘straight’ straight, along the start/finish line, but it’s book-ended by fast corners so the opportunity you get to relax is pretty minimal. But that’s what makes it so enjoyable - every lap is a real adrenaline rush because the corners never stop coming. You need to really be on top of the car around here, you want it to be doing exactly what you ask of it, simply because the lap is so physical, the driver is actually doing a lot of work, so he needs his car to take as much of that burden as possible. I think this’ll be a great new addition to the calendar - the circuit is a hardcore racetrack, the fans are passionate and the venue is spectacular.”

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

No copyright infingement intended.

Quotes made by Drivers.

Canadian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - McLaren

New quotes from McLaren!

Jenson Button - "I really enjoy the Canadian Grand Prix, it's one of those races where everything just feels right. The city is fantastic, the fans are friendly, loyal to the sport and incredibly supportive, the track is intense, and the racing is usually pretty hectic. It's a place that simply produces great Formula One. It was a positive for the whole team to put some points back on the board at Monaco after a difficult few races; we're obviously still far away from where we want to be, but it's important that we maintain our aim of continuous development throughout the whole season. Although we're still a long way from the leaders, we've matched the general rate of development since the start of the season, which is a positive. In Canada, the weather can always play a key role - the forecast currently looks good, but you never know when you pull back the curtains in the morning whether you're going to be faced with blue skies, or grey clouds and pelting rain. We'll probably get a bit of both next week."

Kevin Magnussen - "The Canadian Grand Prix is one of those races I'm really looking forward to, I've always watched it on TV, and it's always looked like one of the very best, most enjoyable, and most dramatic events of the season. The track looks like a lot of fun; it's got a good blend of corners, and it's the kind of place where you want the car nicely hooked up and beneath you because, apart from the back straight, it's pretty much always changing direction. So it's a bit like Monaco in that respect, but a lot faster. It would be nice to have a straightforward weekend after a couple of disappointing technical problems. Things didn't quite go my way in Spain or Monaco - through no fault of my own - so I just want to get my head down, work with my engineers and work on delivering a good result, with no mishaps. I think it'll actually be interesting to see what we can achieve without encountering a problem that sets us back."

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

No copyright infringement intended.

Quotes made by Drivers.

Monaco GP: Driver Preview Quotes - McLaren

More quotes and these ones are from McLaren-Mercedes!

Jenson Button - "Obviously, I’ve never driven a turbocharged F1 car around Monaco before - and I’m relishing the opportunity. More than any other 2014 race, I think this event will show us the most pronounced difference between ‘old F1’ and the new formula we have. There’s far less of an aerodynamic influence here - it’s just about bolting as much to the car as possible in a bid to find grip - so I think the engine’s influence will be greater. So, with less significance placed on aerodynamics, I hope we can enjoy a better race than our two previous outings in China and Spain. Monaco is such a special case - in every respect - I just hope we can string together a good weekend: we’ll need to get the absolute maximum from the car in qualifying and on the first lap to be in with a chance to put up a fair showing. I’m up for the challenge, and the whole team is doing a great job of staying strong and working flat-out to bring updates to every race - and Monaco is no exception.”

Kevin Magnussen - 

“It’s strange to come away from a Grand Prix having finished 12th and feel satisfied with my performance. But the Barcelona weekend taught me quite a lot about managing and setting my expectations, and, more importantly, it gave me the best opportunity so far this year to really get to grips with the MP4-29. And, had I not had that quali problem, I’m certain I’d have scored points. 

I’m happier with the car, not just in terms of my own driving, but also with the way I work with my engineers to set it up. We haven’t totally cracked it, but things are going in the right direction. My [World Series] race in Monaco last year was a bit of a missed opportunity - I didn’t hook it all together and ended up finishing only fourth - so, more than anything, I want to have a clean and constructive race this weekend. We don’t have the pace in the car to challenge at the front, but, wherever I am, I’m determined to make a fight of it.”

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

No copyright infringement intended.

Quotes made by Drivers. 

Spanish GP: Driver Preview Quotes - McLaren

More preview quotes and these ones are from McLaren!

Jenson Button - "Formula One's springtime return to Europe is always one of my favourite times of the year. The paddock is filled with familiar faces, the travel shortens, and the team motorhomes - where we'll live and work for much of the next five months - return to the scene. It always signals a bit of a fresh start to the season, and it'll be an important one for us. The Circuit de Catalunya is a demanding racetrack for any car - its combination of long, sweeping corners places the emphasis on aerodynamic performance, which is an area where we're lacking at the moment. It's always been a place where a competitive car will shine and a less-competitive one will struggle. For us, it's not simply about bringing new parts to the circuit: it's about understanding and unlocking the car's secrets, and using that understanding to take bigger steps with performance. We're still at the early stages with our car, and, for us, it's less about the components that we fit to it, and more about the bigger picture - finding a useful direction, gaining trust in our measurements and pushing ahead. We all know that this team has the capacity to develop a car through a season, so I hope and trust that we'll start to push forwards again soon."

Kevin Magnussen - "As a team, we've had a difficult couple of races, so I think we all head to Spain hopeful of better fortunes. I think the problems we encountered in China have definitely given us the data and the impetus we need to make some changes, so I'm keen to get back in the car on Friday and see if we've made a step forward. The Circuit de Catalunya is a great track, and a place I really enjoy - I won both races in the World Series there last October - and I'm looking forward to driving a Formula One car for the first time. I also think the post-race test will be useful - Barcelona is one of the most critical circuits on the calendar for aerodynamics, so we couldn't ask for a better venue at which to evaluate and refine our car."

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.

No copyright infringement intended.

Quotes made by Drivers. 

Chinese GP: Driver Preview Quotes - McLaren

 Next quotes come from the McLaren-Mercedes F1 Team!

Jenson Button - “After a disappointing race in Bahrain, I think we head to China with a bit of a point to prove - we need to get some points on the board, and get another race under our belts that demonstrates the pace that we feel this year’s car has. That won’t necessarily be straightforward - Bahrain showed that, the top two cars aside, the racing this year is fast, fraught and very evenly matched. The margins are so slim that it’ll require us to get everything right: a focused practice, problem-free qualifying sessions and a clean race to try and establish ourselves at the forefront of that chasing pack. But I’ve always enjoyed racing in China - I won here in 2010, and I’ve always had good results here for McLaren. While it’s not necessarily a track that perfectly suits our package, I think we can pull everything together and have a stronger weekend.”

Kevin Magnussen - “I came away from the last race feeling like I didn’t get the maximum from either myself or the car, so the couple of days’ testing in Bahrain, and my preparations for this race, will hopefully allow me to rediscover my comfort zone with MP4-29. I’m looking forward to this race - it’s a track I’ve only seen on the TV, but it looks to have a real variety of corners. The first turn looks like a real challenge, but, most interestingly, I think we’ve going to see some spectacular speeds, and a lot of overtaking along the back straight, which is one of the longest in Formula 1. The first three races have seen different cars and drivers emerge as the closest challengers to the Mercedes drivers. I still think it’s a bit early to be able to see a competitive order emerge among all the teams battling for points, but our aim this weekend will be to try and consolidate our position at the forefront of that chasing pack.”

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No Copyright Infringement Intended.
Quotes made by Drivers.

Bahrain GP: Driver Preview Quotes - McLaren

Next preview quotes come from the drivers at McLaren-Mercedes F1 Team!


Jenson Button - “It’s hard to believe that this weekend’s race will be the 10th Bahrain Grand Prix - I won this race back in 2009, I’ve had lots of good performances here, and I really enjoy the challenge the circuit presents. You always feel like you can get a little bit more out of yourself, and the car, which makes it a difficult but rewarding track on which to drive. Sunday’s race will be my 250th Grand Prix start. That’s crazy: it feels like only yesterday that I was celebrating my 200th, with a win for McLaren in Hungary back in 2011. Things never stand still in Formula One, and we go to Bahrain facing another new challenge: the circuit’s first night race. It’ll be interesting to see what sort of race we have under the floodlights - racing at night always adds to the atmosphere and sense of occasion, and I think this weekend will be no different. We’ve scored some useful points in the first two races, which was always our objective for the opening quartet of flyaways [ie, Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain and China], and I hope we can get some more points in the bag this weekend.”

Kevin Magnussen - “It’ll be a good experience to go racing at a circuit on which I’ve already driven a Formula One car - a first for me in fact because I already have four days’ running under my belt from the recent winter tests. While that doesn’t really make a massive difference, because you can learn a circuit relatively quickly, assisted by simulator experience, it does mean you can go straight into Friday’s practice sessions on the front foot. You don’t need to familiarise yourself with the track first. I really enjoyed the tests and filming days we did in Bahrain earlier this year actually - the track has a good mix of corners, and the high-speed stuff around the back of the circuit is really enjoyable when the car is working well. Although the Sakhir [Bahrain] track has several high-speed corners, it’s not as fast as Sepang [Malaysia] so I’m hopeful that we’ll be slightly more competitive this weekend than we were there. I still think the track temperatures and our lack of downforce will make it hard to get the car into the sweet spot we found for it in Melbourne, but I’m hopeful we’ll be able to achieve a decent balance for the race. The Grand Prix itself will take place in the evening, so the track will be slightly cooler than it’s been for any previous Bahrain Grand Prix. I guess that’ll help all the teams, but I think we can still benefit from it. It’s always fascinating to try new things, and I really hope this weekend’s event, the 10th Bahrain Grand Prix, is a great success.”

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No Copyright Infringement Intended.
Quotes made by Drivers.

 

Malaysian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - McLaren

New quotes from McLaren!

Jenson Button - “Australia was a really motivational race for the entire team - even though we still have work to do, it feels like we’ve turned a corner, and that we have a race car we can definitely work with this year. It’s important that we keep pushing hard on the development front - we brought some useful upgrades to Melbourne, and it was encouraging that they worked straight out of the box, but it’s essential that we keep pushing new items through the development pipeline, especially at these flyaway races, where it’s harder to bring new parts to the circuit. Sepang is a great driver’s circuit, and even if we don’t have the overall downforce we want, we should have the balance and driveability to make the car work. And that’s really encouraging, because it means we go into a race weekend knowing that we can usually get the maximum from the car during the sessions and the race. Even if we don’t yet have the pace to take the fight to the frontrunners, we should have a car that’s decent in every sector, and which we’ll be able to hustle through the race - and that definitely counts for something.”

Kevin Magnussen - “There’s been no chance for a break since our encouraging result in Australia. Jenson and I both went back to Europe and spent a couple of days at the MTC to assess our performance in Melbourne and to work on our preparations for Malaysia. Equally, the designers and engineers have been working hard. We showed in Australia that we can score good points if our car is reliable, and we need to consolidate that over the next few races - and one of the ways to do that is to make sure that we’re bringing new parts to the track as fast as, if not faster, than our chief rivals. Sepang is a very different type of track from Albert Park: Melbourne was all about slow-speed corners and mechanical balance, whereas Malaysia is a real high-speed circuit, the corners are much faster and there’ll be more of an emphasis on aerodynamic performance. I think it’ll be a tougher test than Australia - the ambient temperatures will make it tougher for the drivers; and the track temperatures will be higher too, which will make it harder on the tyres. My aim will be to score more points - consistency is going to be very important for the championship - and to keep learning, especially in such a different environment. I’m really looking forward to it - the car feels fantastic to drive, and I hope we’ll have another good weekend.”

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No Copyright Infringement Intended.
Quotes made by Drivers. 

Australian GP: Driver Preview Quotes - McLaren

Next quotes from the McLaren-Mercedes team who have new driver Kevin Magnussen driving for them this year, alongside Jenson Button.

Jenson Button - “I think this year’s Australian Grand Prix is going to be an absolutely fascinating sporting contest. Even with stable regulations, Melbourne is usually unpredictable. This year, I don’t think anybody knows quite what to expect - will we see more than half the field at the end of the race? Will we see good, close racing? Will the pecking order pan out as we expect? Those are all questions that we’ve yet to see answered, and part of what makes for such a fun weekend. The other element that I enjoy about this race is the atmosphere and vibe that you always get in Melbourne. It’s a beautiful city, a place I always love visiting - in fact, I get there early enough to settle my body-clock and to do some training ahead of the Grand Prix - and the fans at the circuit are always passionate, knowledgeable and enthusiastic. It’s a great place to start what will hopefully be a fantastic year. In terms of performance, while there’s plenty of potential within MP4-29, we still think it’ll take a little time to unlock that promise. It’s not quite where we’d like it to be, so I don’t think we go to Melbourne with a package that accurately reflects our progress with the car - it’ll take a little longer for that to become apparent. In general, this season is going to be all about continuous development. Our stated aim has always been to try and scoop up a useful haul of points from the opening races - by virtue of solid engineering and good reliability - and then to quickly refine and develop the package, and deliver further performance in due course. Nonetheless, I do think the potential is there: MP4-29 has given us what last year’s MP4-28 didn’t - namely, a reliable and predictable platform upon which we can build and develop. In every respect, this year’s car feels different to last year’s, and that makes me excited - which is exactly as things should be as you head off for the first race of the year.”

Kevin Magnussen - “Wow - it feels strange knowing that the next time I drive my car out of the garage, it will be for free practice at the Australian Grand Prix. It’s crazy to even think about racing in Melbourne - I’ve never been to Australia before, and the Grand Prix has always been something that I’ve watched very early in the morning on TV back in Europe. To not only be arriving in a new country, but also taking part in the Grand Prix is incredibly exciting. I think we head down under having had a solid winter - we know we have a lot of work left to do, but we have a good basis from which to go forward. We know where the car is strong, and where there’s more work left to do - and we’re addressing those areas. But I’ve said it all along: the car is driveable and predictable; it does what we ask it to do, which is a positive. Personally, it’ll be important for me to finish these early races in order to get some good mileage under my belt. Even though I’ve had a good winter, I’m under no illusions that I’m a still a rookie, and that I’m giving something away to the guys with more experience. However, the new regulations have made it more of an even playing field, so a couple of good practice sessions and some race distances will help enormously in getting me fully race-ready. There’s no substitute for being in the car - and there’s so much for me to still learn about driving a Formula One as close to the limit as possible while still focusing on tyre management, fuel-saving and the controls and switches we operate from the cockpit. But I’m really looking forward to being in a race - that’s why I’m here, and I can’t wait to get started!”

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No Copyright Infringement Intended.
Quotes made by drivers. 

Sergio Perez out at McLaren, Kevin Magnussen in.

Most of the silly season rumours have turned out to be true moves/switches between Drivers and Teams. One of the biggest ones have surrounded the Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes team.

Whitmarsh announced that the only thing that had been signed was with Jenson Button. It left concern about Sergio Perez and was he going to be staying on the team for next year? Sergio had told the public that he was expecting to stay with McLaren and that everything looked good for him and his future.

But after releasing a Farewell statement on Wednesday, from Twitter, Sergio was to part ways with McLaren after this year. With social media buzzing about the reason why and wanting a for sure answer, Martin Whitmarsh announced Sergio was leaving and wished him nothing but the best in his future/career. Kevin Magnussen, the young rookie, will be taking Sergio's seat in 2014.

Not many people feel this is fair and I have to admit.. Sergio should've been given another year or two in a better car. This years McLaren MP4-28 was not up to expectations and gave the drivers a disappointing season.

All-In-All, I really hope Sergio is able to find a seat somewhere in Formula 1 next year. He's a great guy with a huge heart and a big passion for racing. He loves and cares about his fans and is doing what he can to make these last two races the best of the season. So, Checo... Best of luck to you! We support you.

As for Kevin, I'm sure he is thrilled about becoming a very young McLaren driver and I hope he achieves the goals he has set for himself.

I'm also happy that Jenson Button will be sticking around.. I have been very supportive of McLaren this year and that will not change next year. Sergio said he will always be a fan of McLaren and so will I.

Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
No Copyright Infringement Intended.