Upgrade will help us fight for British GP win, Hamilton and Button say

July 6, 2010 at 12:17 pm by Keith Collantine

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button said they expect to be in the hunt for victory in the British Grand Prix this weekend as McLaren bring another performance upgrade for their home race.

Speaking at a press conference in London today the pair were also enthusiastic about racing on the revised Silverstone circuit, with Hamilton saying he expects the track will be “even faster” than before.

Button expects McLaren’s planned upgrade for this race – introducing their version of Red Bull’s exhaust-driven diffuser – will put them in contention for victory:

We have new parts on the car which should make us more competitive. Our package will lift us into a good position where we can really fight for victory this weekend.

As you saw in the last race a few cars had new parts, mostly this special diffuser Red Bull have been running since the start of the season.

We do need to raise our game and add performance to our car if we’re going to challenge the Red Bulls. When we add new parts it’s not just a question of sticking them on and going faster. You have to work with the new balance of the car. It’s a challenge but it’s something we’ve got to do.
Jenson Button

Hamilton stressed it would be important to see how well the new parts worked in practice before the race:

Often when you bring an upgrade package it doesn’t do exactly what you expect. We’ll have to see exactly which parts work and which parts don’t.
Lewis Hamilton

The pair seemed in good spirits ahead of their home race. Hamilton jokingly brushing off a question about how the team’s F-duct worked saying “We’ll leave it to you think what we have!”

Button also gave an insight into his thinking behind joining McLaren at the start of the season in this exchange between the two:

LH: We’ve not been dominant every year. We’ve had good car, not so good car, bad car, good car…

JB: The great thing about McLaren is a ‘bad car’ can still win two races!

LH: You should try driving it! He’s driven the 23, but not the 24 [last year's car].

Button also talked more directly about why he switched teams last year:

After winning the world championship I thought “where do I go from here?” You don’t plan for what you do after winning the world championship. Immediately afterwards I thought I needed a new challenge.
Jenson Button

The pair were largely enthusiastic about the changes made to the home of the British Grand Prix for this year’s race.

Silverstone has always been a very fast, flowing circuit. This adds something but it also takes away from the flow a little bit. But it will hopefully offer an overtaking opportunity.

Becketts [which hasn't changed] is one of the best sections in the world in a racing car.

Brooklands is now more difficult because when you turn in there’s two kerbs. The first one is nothing to do with the actual corner. It’s a hard corner to get right with a late apex.

The new Club is not that different for us. But the new right-left kink – the quick section – is going to be flat and it’s very bumpy.

Then you’ve got the two slow corners with some big kerbs which you don’t want to hit.
Jenson Button

Hamilton added:

I drove it yesterday on the simulator and it was a very interesting experience. I think on my first lap of the circuit I missed out the new bit and continued as normal.

It took a lap longer than normal to get used to not going up to Abbey and turning left but going right onto the new section. It looks like they’ve done a great job.

It’s an extremely fast circuit and I think it’s going to be one of the fastest circuits. It was fast before but I think it’s going to be even faster now.
Lewis Hamilton

Later he was asked how well the pair of world champions got on and joked:

We’re just really good actors. Next year I’m going to Bollywood, he’s going to Hollywood.
Lewis Hamilton

The relationship between the pair remains under close scrutiny. Button has been out-qualified by Hamilton in the last five races and he admitted he had no answer for his team mate’s pace in Canada:

I was behind him at Montreal – Lewis put an unbelievable lap together. He’s never been anywhere other than on pole in Montreal. At Valencia I made a mistake in the last corner.

It makes things tougher for myself because in the race I’ve got more to do and at circuits where you can’t overtake it’s very tricky. But I’ve been able to in the last few races which has been good.
Jenson Button

The pair were asked whether they would fight for position or hold station if they were leading on the last lap of the race. Hamilton insisted that, despite the appeal of winning at home, the championship comes first:

I think it’s important to remember the championship isn’t going to be won this weekend. In terms of the championship, it’s just another race. But on the emotional side it’s a special Grand Prix for us. But I don’t think it’s necessary to do anything silly on the last lap.
Lewis Hamilton

Button had expressed similar sentiments earlier:

I love the British Grand Prix, it has such a good atmosphere. It’s not just because I’m British There are a few races around the world where you get a very special atmosphere and Silverstone is one of them.

My main aim is to win the world championship and also to win my home Grand Prix. It’s something I’m looking for this weekend.
Jenson Button

Hamilton ended by responding to Damon Hill’s suggestion that he might be more prone to mistakes than Button:

It’s very interesting to know how past world champions talk about the present. We’ll see if it’s true or not and if they know what they’re talking about.
Lewis Hamilton

2010 British Grand Prix

Browse all 2010 British Grand Prix articles

Image (C) F1Fanatic.co.uk

Share this with your friends:

71 comments on Upgrade will help us fight for British GP win, Hamilton and Button say

bwells said on 7th July 2010, 1:06

I love how sometimes this blog just goes so far off base… this weekend should be amazing with not only the upgrades to all the cars but the new Arena section of the track… only time will tell us how the upgrades work… I’m really interested in seeing how Alonso’s car works with the full gearbox upgrade this weekend… it put Massa right behind him in Valencia qualifying so that should push his Ferrari ahead a bit more… should be a great fight!! :)

wasiF1 (@wasif1) said on 7th July 2010, 3:15

I am not sure that Mclaren will be able to beat the Red Bull this weekend, but if they does then it will be great for the championship.

Eric said on 7th July 2010, 3:37

im not to confident that the upgrade will be a instant success for McLaren, no one else has been able to make it work straight out of the box., even RB have had there problems with it.

im also hopping Mark Webber has no problems with running Vettels old chassis that Vettel couldn’t drive, if he do’s then McLeran have been handed another grid position on a plate.

i would keep an eye on Ferrari, personally i think they were way faster than normal, and they may just have made up more ground than we think.

Silverstone is certainly special and i hope McLaren can bring it home in front of there fans.

SPIDERman said on 7th July 2010, 9:04

For some reason Redbull are saying it is not the so called blown diffuser that is making their cars the fastest on the grid….so i dont see why Mclaren are very sure that they have hit the holy grail by switching to this type of design mid season
….i think the reason Redbull is fast is hidden somewhere within the front suspension and main body works starting with the design of the front control arm assembly AND THE WAY these fed onto the body shell

- BasCB (@bascb) said on 7th July 2010, 9:14
  
  RedBulls speed in Qualli might have something to do with a special engine setting that ensures exhaust gasses get out even when the driver is not on the throttle, making for constand downforce in corners as well (John Beamer mentioned it in the commentary to the latest technical review, this was from JA’s blog)
  
kbdavies said on 7th July 2010, 10:03

Expect McLaren to go off on a different tangent with this blown exhaust/diffuser. Last year, they took a couple of wrong turns with their upgrades. This year it has been marginal. I predict the upgrade will NOT work as promised. McLaren have a history(this year) of being too bullish and talking themselves up, only to have egg on their faces when it counts.
It will be status quo, with Macca trailing Red Bull and Ferrari behind;or if their upgrade takes them up the wrong tree, they may find themselves trailing Ferrari and fighting with Renault.

SPIDERman said on 7th July 2010, 13:19

NOW they are playing down the hype. it seems the great difuser upgrade could turn out badly for the BRITISH Mclaren drivers…I HOPE THE DRIVERS USE their individual skills to drive both cars to victory if this thing does not work..

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/85036

Speed Damon said on 7th July 2010, 21:00

You guys are being too harsh on Lewis. The ’09 car was utterly shocking and rubbish. Also the fact that he crashed in Monaco shows how hard it was to drive LOL

Richard said on 7th July 2010, 23:49

An upgrade that performs better would be just that … an upgrade, or else it’s a downgrade. I’ve got to believe that McLaren will have tested their blown diffuser design to the max off track before doing the PR stuff for Silverstone. But PR is what it is. This weekend will be a drivers race for sure. Hammy and Jens need to split the bulls, then put them behind them. Who is the better driver … I think most days it may be Hammy, but Sunday is Jenson’s. Hope he tucks a Union Jack under his seat … because I want to see it flying on the victory lap. Make it a McLaren 1-2, boys.

haha said on 8th July 2010, 0:07

They are testing for straight line speed which they already have an advantage, so why?

Now that we know RB has an electronic device in the exhaust system to keep pressure constant in slow corners, hence their overwhelming downforce. They should try and not make anything in haste.

http://totalf1.com/full_story/view/345638/Secret_of_Red_Bulls_qualifying_speed_revealed/

kbdavies said on 8th July 2010, 15:25

It was quite clear that whatever the Red Bulls were doing, it was being done in Q3. They have consistently struggled in Q1/Q2, only to blitz the field in Q3.Moreover, it is clear that they do not have the same advantage in the race – unless they choose to turn in on when threatened. Was this what Vettel did in the last stages in Valencia?

The question now should be how they got this electronic setting in place. The engine is Renault, and it would be impossible to add this device without the knowledge and know how of Renault. I suspect this is what they did when requesting for the “engine equalisation” modification. Is is any surprise that Renault’s pace has also improved dramatically this year?

I hope Macca have also found a way to keep the flow of exhaust gases stable and constant, otherwise, we may have a repeat of the MP4-18.

US Williams Fan said on 9th July 2010, 7:45

Never been a McLaren supporter – but it would be cool to have one of the British teams win at home.

If it can’t be Rubino or the Hulk….. Why not Jenson?

:)