McLaren expecting competitive qualifying at Suzuka

Both McLaren drivers are expecting a competitive fight for qualifying, after a productive day in practice for both Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. The McLaren duo topped the opening practice session, however the Red Bull of Mark Webber thwarted the Woking-based outfit in second practice, as Button suffered from balance issues.

With Lewis Hamilton yet to win a race around the superb Suzuka circuit, the Briton will unquestionably be striving pole during qualifying tomorrow. However, with the likes of team-mate Jenson Button, reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel and current Championship leader Fernando Alonso all in the mix, both McLaren drivers understand that the fight for pole will be extremely competitive.

“Suzuka is such a phenomenal circuit!” Enthused Lewis Hamilton, after finishing 2nd in both practice sessions. “The first lap out of the pits felt great. Just driving through the first couple of corners and feeling the acceleration, it takes a few laps to get warmed up, but you keep getting faster and faster as you push the limits. As always, we’ll be fine-tuning the car tonight ahead of tomorrow’s sessions, but it looks very close between ourselves and Red Bull. I feel comfortable with our car – it’s the best that it’s ever been around here. It’s going to be very close in qualifying tomorrow.”

Jenson Button echoed his team-mate’s predictions with regards to a competitive qualifying session, after the Briton ended the opening session fastest overall. However, balance issues with the car during the second session hindered the 2009 World Champion’s track time, however he remains confident ahead of qualifying at Suzuka.

“I didn’t do too many laps in FP2: the balance wasn’t quite right and we knew we couldn’t go back on the changes we’d made until after the session, so there wasn’t any point doing too much running.” Explained Jenson Button, “Still, we know how to dial the car in for FP3 tomorrow, and that’s the important thing. The car felt good this morning, so we’ll go back to something similar with just a few detail changes. Overall, the car is working well here. Qualifying will be very competitive, but I think we’ll be up there.”

With Jenson Button set to incur a five-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change prior to the race weekend, Lewis Hamilton remains McLaren’s only true hope of starting Sunday’s 53-lap race from the front. Button can only qualify as high as 6th due to his penalty, but will remains positive of a competitive race result.

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