(McLaren Mercedes)
McLaren Mercedes have raised concerns that their downturn in performance during the Malaysian Grand Prix will continue this weekend in Bahrain. Following a fantastic result in the opening race of the season where Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button finished 2nd and 3rd respectively, however in Malaysia Button finished in 6th while Magnussen finished the race in 9th place.
McLaren team Racing Director Eric Boullier fears that his team's downturn will continue in Bahrain. Speaking ahead of this weekend's race at the Sakhir circuit the Frenchman said:
'I don't think it is going to be a one-off, that's the problem. We said in Melbourne that we were happy with the result because were opportunistic. Our lack of downforce is making the car slide more and when the car slides more the tyres get hotter, and if you pass the limit of the surface temperature you get in trouble'.
Following Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix and Mercedes 1-2 finish they have overtaken McLaren at the top of the Constructors championship. The Brackley based squad are currently leading the charge by 25 point's while McLaren have a 13 point advantage over Ferrari in 3rd place.
The four Mercedes powered team's occur four spots in the top five with Ferrari right in the middle in third place. The Italian team have 30 point's and are just 10 ahead the Williams Martini Racing team.
Boullier concluded by saying:
'We know performance-wise we have to massively catch up and aggressively develop the car'.
McLaren have the resources and know how to succeed in Formula One and not only that but they have two fantastic drivers in 2009 world champion Jenson Button and impressive rookie Kevin Magnussen. It is likely that the team will have a massive upgrade package for the start of the European season in Spain in May.
©Ben Johnston 2014
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