Singapore GP: Team Review – McLaren-Mercedes

Mclaren-Mercedes would definitely rate the Singapore GP as their second best of the year after Germany. It’s been such a season for the legendary team in their 50^th anniversary year that even a single point finish makes a lot of difference as it would help them stay ahead of Force India in the Constructors Championship. And that’s what happened as both Jenson Button and Sergio Perez managed to finish seventh and eighth, getting home 10 crucial points for the Woking based team.

Martin Whitmarsh, Mclaren team Principal, appreciated his drivers spirited performance in the Singapore GP

The practice sessions had the two Mclarens struggling due to lack of pace and grip, but qualifying saw Button taking eighth place on the grid while Perez had a miserable outing to finish fourteenth. A comparison with last year clearly shows a below par performance for a team who were among the fastest cars and had qualified 1/4 at Marina Bay. The strategy to pit during the safety car period almost got them a podium before the Mclarens started to move down the order, owing to tyre degradation and some serious lack of pace.

Jenson Button

Jenson Button was in the running for a podium finish before his tyres gave up in final laps of the race

Button, the more dominant and consistent of the Mclarens in the year, started eighth on the grid and didn’t really have a great start. But he managed to hang on for his position for sometime before dashing into the pits to get a new pair of supersofts as early as lap 14. McLaren gambled on a two stop strategy (with the safety car on track on lap 25) and at one point in the race, it looked as if Button would finally get the first podium of the season but his Mclaren lacked pace and his rear tyres started to wear out.

He was able to hold off Kimi Raikkonen in the the Lotus for a few laps before his slide down the order began with the late pitting cars catching up and overtaking him. Button later admitted that it was indeed a decent finish for the team considering they were not among the fastest cars and it was an achievement to get both cars across the Chequered Flag with good points.

Sergip Perez

Sergio Perez made it into the points after disappointing races in Spa and Monza

Checo, as he’s fondly called in the paddock, had a good start to the race after staring fourteenth on the grid. He quickly moved into eleventh by the end of lap 1. He was in tenth before he was overtaken by the Flying Finn Raikkonen on lap 9. His first pit stop was on lap 15 and Mclaren had a two stop strategy going for him as well during the safety car intervention.

From then on, the Mexican Wunderkid started to find his way through traffic before, like his teammate Button, his hardly competitive McLaren was overtaken by a whole bunch of faster cars (the ones who had opted not to pit in the safety car period and were on a fresh pair of rubber from their final round of pit-stop). But he managed to keep Nico Hulkenberg in the Sauber and Adrian Sutil in the Force India behind him in the dying moments of the race.

After the race, Perez also admitted that seventh and eighth indeed was the best result for the underperforming team and a one that is bound to bring the smiles back on the faces of his fans, especially in Mexico. Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal, gave a thumbs-up to both the drivers for putting in a spirited performance.