McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said the problem in Lewis Hamilton’s pit-stop, where the team were not ready with a new set of tyres, did not affect the outcome of the European grand prix for the reigning world champion.
Having locked out the front-row in qualifying, Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen got away well from the grid and led the field into the first braking zone of the lap at turn two.
At the first round of stops, Heikki was leapfrogged by Rubens Barrichello in the Brawn for second place and eventually fell down to fourth behind his fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen.
Hamilton maintained a healthy lead over the Brawn GP driver, matching Barrichello’s lap times and setting numerous fastest laps unti his second stop, when he was forced to wait for a total of seventeen seconds before being released by his team, as the McLaren pit-crew weren’t ready with a new set of tyres.
Barrichello pitted soon after Hamilton, putting in some quick in-laps before his stop and eventually re-emerging from his stop with a six second advantage over the McLaren driver.
The Brazilian went on to win the race and Hamilton was unable to do anything about the Brazilian’s pace, settling for second place.
In a post-race interview, Whitmarsh denied that the mistake in the pit-stop cost Hamilton the race victory and blamed a lack of pace for the result.
He said: 'Most of the race, Rubens was heavier than us and we weren’t able to open the gaps that were necessary and coming into the second stop it was routine because it was the strategy that Lewis would stop on lap 37 and Heikki on lap 38.
'As we got close to that stop, it became clear that we might be able to make lap 38 with Lewis and that might help him and in truth, it was the right thing to try and push, but it was really battling to try and give every opportunity in case Rubens had difficulty in traffic.
'So we were scheduled, we got the fuel-rig out, we had told Lewis we were on lap 37, we were listening to the fuel-flow man about whether we could actually make that extra lap, because we don’t want to run out of fuel, that’s always a pretty embarrassing thing to do.
'At the very last minute, we got a message saying that he could make the extra lap.
'We did tell Lewis to stay out, having told him to come in previously, but that was a second or two too late because he was committed to coming in.
'If he hadn't of come in we were about to pull Heikki in, then we had the crew out and we would have quickly called Heikki’s tyres.
'All that happened quite quickly, it meant the tyres weren’t ready when the car came in and we lost two, maximum three, seconds.
'In the meantime Rubens was very quick. He actually stopped early to cover us so he probably had another four laps of fuel and I think when he came out he was about six seconds ahead of us.
'It was disappointing, it wasn’t right and we will have a look at how we don’t do that again, but it didn’t affect the outcome of this race, we were not quick enough to win, we didn’t have the race pace to do it.'
Whitmarsh also praised Barrichello’s effort during the European grand prix in Valencia.
'I think Rubens drove an absolutely solid race and he just kept the pressure on us and occasionally, Lewis was able to open up a little bit, but during that time, frankly Rubens was a little bit heavier and we couldn’t open up a big enough gap,' Whitmarsh said.
Having locked out the front-row in qualifying, Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen got away well from the grid and led the field into the first braking zone of the lap at turn two.
At the first round of stops, Heikki was leapfrogged by Rubens Barrichello in the Brawn for second place and eventually fell down to fourth behind his fellow Finn Kimi Raikkonen.
Hamilton maintained a healthy lead over the Brawn GP driver, matching Barrichello’s lap times and setting numerous fastest laps unti his second stop, when he was forced to wait for a total of seventeen seconds before being released by his team, as the McLaren pit-crew weren’t ready with a new set of tyres.
Barrichello pitted soon after Hamilton, putting in some quick in-laps before his stop and eventually re-emerging from his stop with a six second advantage over the McLaren driver.
The Brazilian went on to win the race and Hamilton was unable to do anything about the Brazilian’s pace, settling for second place.
In a post-race interview, Whitmarsh denied that the mistake in the pit-stop cost Hamilton the race victory and blamed a lack of pace for the result.
He said: 'Most of the race, Rubens was heavier than us and we weren’t able to open the gaps that were necessary and coming into the second stop it was routine because it was the strategy that Lewis would stop on lap 37 and Heikki on lap 38.
'As we got close to that stop, it became clear that we might be able to make lap 38 with Lewis and that might help him and in truth, it was the right thing to try and push, but it was really battling to try and give every opportunity in case Rubens had difficulty in traffic.
'So we were scheduled, we got the fuel-rig out, we had told Lewis we were on lap 37, we were listening to the fuel-flow man about whether we could actually make that extra lap, because we don’t want to run out of fuel, that’s always a pretty embarrassing thing to do.
'At the very last minute, we got a message saying that he could make the extra lap.
'We did tell Lewis to stay out, having told him to come in previously, but that was a second or two too late because he was committed to coming in.
'If he hadn't of come in we were about to pull Heikki in, then we had the crew out and we would have quickly called Heikki’s tyres.
'All that happened quite quickly, it meant the tyres weren’t ready when the car came in and we lost two, maximum three, seconds.
'In the meantime Rubens was very quick. He actually stopped early to cover us so he probably had another four laps of fuel and I think when he came out he was about six seconds ahead of us.
'It was disappointing, it wasn’t right and we will have a look at how we don’t do that again, but it didn’t affect the outcome of this race, we were not quick enough to win, we didn’t have the race pace to do it.'
Whitmarsh also praised Barrichello’s effort during the European grand prix in Valencia.
'I think Rubens drove an absolutely solid race and he just kept the pressure on us and occasionally, Lewis was able to open up a little bit, but during that time, frankly Rubens was a little bit heavier and we couldn’t open up a big enough gap,' Whitmarsh said.
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