PlanetF1

Hamilton: McLaren are in the fight

Saturday 30-July-2011 15:42

Lewis Hamilton is relishing McLaren's performance in the Hungarian qualifying, saying it's proof that there's "real pace" in their MP4-26.

Hamilton will start Sunday's 70-lap race at the Hungaroring on the front row of the grid, having narrowly lost out to Sebastian Vettel in qualifying.

While the German crossed the line with a 1:19.815, Hamilton was 0.163s off the pace. And it could have been a different story had it not been for a small mistake from the 2008 World Champ.

But, never the less, he is very happy with McLaren's showing as his team-mate Jenson Button is starting the grand prix from third on the grid.

"It's great to see McLaren with both cars on the front two rows - it's a sign that there's real pace here now," said Hamilton.

"Everyone in the team is doing a fantastic job and we were genuinely competitive today.

"At one stage during Q3 I was up: I had half a tenth in reserve. But then I went a little bit wide, which triggered a big oversteer moment, and the result was that I lost that crucial bit of time.

"But the points aren't given out for today, and I'm feeling good about tomorrow. I'm very excited about the race, in fact, because we had quite a good long run yesterday and we'll work hard to build on that pace overnight and take it into tomorrow.

"We're in the fight - and, with a good start, we can definitely challenge for the win."

Meanwhile, team boss Martin Whitmarsh is expecting an exciting grand prix with both his drivers fighting at the front.

"It was tight, wasn't it?!" he told BBC. "Obviously a bit disappointing, but the fact is we've got both cars on the front two rows, it is going to be an exciting race.

"I think Lewis ran wide on the last corner. Neither his or Jenson's were bad laps.

"We've proven we have good starts and both guys had good long runs on Friday so I think we'll be in good shape for the race."

Related Links
Qualy: Vettel is back at the front
Saturday's pictures from Hungary