(McLaren Honda)
The McLaren Honda Formula One Team head into this weekend’s
Formula One season opener in Albert Park Melbourne, Australia having endured an
extremely difficult winter testing programme. The Woking based outfit have
reunited with Japanese manufacturer Honda starting this season.
However although the two companies have seen a seamless
transition and integration however the new power unit has had numerous teething
problems which resulted in very limited track time for the team however they were
able to gather extremely valuable data for the team.
This weekend McLaren are also missing their regular race
driver Fernando Alonso following his accident in testing in Barcelona last
month.
The Spaniard was told to sit out the first race of the season and to
undertake three weeks of mandatory rest period following a concussion. This
means that McLaren Test and Reserve driver Kevin Magnussen will drive the
MP4-30 this weekend.
Speaking about the opening race of the season, Jenson Button
stated:
‘I’m so
excited to be back in Melbourne. After the ups and downs of 2014, I feel that
the challenge of 2015 is a completely new chapter in my career and I’m totally
up for it. I also love Melbourne – it’s a fantastic city with great people and
the atmosphere is always buzzing – Albert Park is the perfect place for the
season-opener.
“While
we know the city and the circuit well, what is more of an unknown is how we
will fare in the MP4-30. McLaren-Honda has been working incredibly hard over
the winter, and although we would of course have liked to cover more miles in
Jerez and Barcelona, I can definitely see a difference in the car from the
first day to the last. The team’s commitment to development and improvement,
both in Woking and in Japan, is astonishing, and despite some tricky days in
testing, we are seeing definitive progress. The car is a solid base which gives
me optimism that we will get there, we just need patience.
“Melbourne
is always a fascinating spectacle: nobody quite knows where they’ll be in
comparison to their rivals, and even though the other teams are now in the
second year of the turbo era, all of the development from last year has been
done very much behind the scenes, so I don’t think anyone has quite shown their
full hand yet. The race at Albert Park will be a huge learning curve for us,
but I’ll be working flat-out with my engineers to get the car set up as best we
can, and together, we’ll fight right until the last moment to get the most out
of the weekend.
“Fernando
not being able to race is a real shame and I hope he makes a speedy recovery so
that he can get behind the wheel again very soon. It’s great to see Kevin back
in the car though and I’ll know he’ll do a great job in Fernando’s absence, so
I wish him well this weekend.’
Kevin
Magnussen stated:
‘I’m really
pleased to be behind the wheel with McLaren-Honda at Melbourne again. Of
course, the reason I am here is an unusual one, but my job is to do the best
job I can for the team while Fernando is out of the cockpit, and that's what
I'll do.
“To
be back in Melbourne is a fantastic feeling, especially as those memories of my
podium here last year are incredibly special and something I’ll never forget. I
loved racing on this circuit last year and I’m really looking forward to
getting back out on track in Friday practice to continue the development of our
car here. Although we had some challenges in Barcelona, overall the MP4-30 felt
very positive and certainly different from last year’s car, in a good way.
“Of
course, we aren’t expecting to win here, but my focus is on setting up the car
for race conditions and pushing our progress forward. I’ll be working hard with
my engineers to give them as much valuable feedback as possible so that they
can keep developing the car and improving our performance and reliability.
“Although
I didn’t expect to be sitting in the cockpit in Australia, I’ve spent the
winter preparing as I would normally for a race season, so I feel fit and ready
for the task ahead of me and to do the best I can for the team. It’s a
fantastic opportunity for me to get more mileage under my belt in the MP4-30,
and this will in turn benefit the team over the coming months as I work with
the team back in Woking. The racing is sure to be unpredictable here at the
start of the new season, and it’ll be really interesting to find out where we
compare to the rest of the grid, but I’m definitely up for the challenge.’
Fernando
Alonso won’t even attend this weekend’s race and stated:
‘Of course,
I’m very disappointed not to be joining Jenson in Melbourne in the
McLaren-Honda garage, but I understand the recommendations of the doctors and
I’m already back in training and preparing for my first race in the MP4-30. I
would like to thank everybody for their kind wishes and support and I’ll be
giving everything to be back in the cockpit for Malaysia. I wish Kevin all the
best for this weekend in Australia, and I know the car is in his safe hands!
“Even
though we faced a lot of challenges in the tests, I am very encouraged by the
feeling I got from the car, and I’m looking forward to going through all of the
data from this weekend with the team to continue our push for development and
improve our performance.’
Despite having
a difficult winter Infiniti Red Bull Racing are refusing to write off McLaren
and the Woking based outfit’s Racing Director Eric Boullier is delighted that
the team are set to start the next chapter in their history this weekend in
Melbourne stating:
‘The
Australian Grand Prix marks the culmination of a huge amount of hard work and
dedication from everyone within McLaren-Honda. It’s been a relatively short
winter for us and there have proven to be testing times, but I am confident
that we are moving forwards, and the race in Melbourne is just the beginning of
a huge development in performance throughout the season.
“It
is obviously disappointing that we weren’t able to do as many kilometres in
testing as we had hoped, but we are undeterred and working relentlessly to
improve the reliability of the MP4-30, and ultimately, make progress in terms
of our raw pace. Despite our difficulties, our package shows a lot of promise;
we completed a lot of valuable system checks and set-up work during testing, and
the data from Jenson’s 101 laps on the second day of the final test in
Barcelona is very encouraging.
“Of
course, how this will translate to the Albert Park circuit, and especially
relative to our competitors, is a difficult question, but there is complete
focus, commitment and dedication from everyone in the team and we are very
excited to debut the McLaren-Honda MP4-30 on track. I am confident in the
progress we have made so far to get to this point, but we know there is a long
road ahead in terms of our development and every kilometre will count.
“It’s
a great feeling to be back in Melbourne; it’s a wonderful city and there is
always a huge amount of excitement around at the start of the new season, for
both the fans and the teams. Even more so this year, since this is the
beginning of my second year at McLaren and the start of a new era with
McLaren-Honda. We are ready for the challenge ahead of us, and cannot wait for
the car to roll out of the garage this weekend for the first time at a Grand
Prix; it will be a very poignant moment for the whole team.’
Chief Officer
of Motorsport, Honda R&D Co Ltd, Yasuhisa Arai commented by saying:
‘I am truly
excited to see how our season and the new era will begin.
“The
winter testing felt very short, and we did not have enough time to test how our
newly developed power unit will fit the track. However, every day we gained
essential feedback from the power unit, and it has been evolving ever since
Jerez to Barcelona, and now to Melbourne. “We
look forward to testing ourselves on track, and seeing what we can achieve.’
© Ben Johnston 2015
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