OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
Budapest, Hungary, Jul 31, 2010
Lewis pushes to fifth; Jenson nets 11thLEWIS HAMILTON
- MP4-25A-04
- P3 programme: 6th, 1m21.376s (+1.802s), 17 laps
- Qualifying:
- Q1: 8th, 1m21.455s (on Primes)
- Q2: 8th, 1m20.877s (on Options)
- Q3: 5th, 1m20.499s (on Options)“I’m happy with today’s result. I was relieved to get into Q3 – it was very close – and I feel I pulled every last drop out of the car. So I’m satisfied with the job we did today.
“Obviously, we’ll have to work hard again tomorrow – but, all things considered, it’s a good place for us to be starting from tomorrow: it’s on the clean side of the track, which is a positive, and it’s a long haul down to Turn One. So anything’s possible. As I say, I’m quite happy.
“Our car is the best it’s ever been at this circuit. And we’ll stay focused for tomorrow: I need to get as good a start as I’ve been getting for the past few races, stay clean, get around the first corner and keep moving forwards after that.
“It would be great to make up some places off the grid because it’s very hard to overtake around here. But we’ll do the best job we can. I’m ready for it. Bring it on!”
JENSON BUTTON
- MP4-25A-03
- P3 programme: 9th, 1m21.473s (+1.899s), 18 laps
- Qualifying:
- Q1: 7th, 1m21.422s (on Primes)
- Q2: 11th, 1m21.292s (on Options)
- Q3: -
“In practice this morning, the car was working pretty well and I felt quite happy with it. We were still some way off the top two teams, but the overall pace wasn’t too bad.
“This afternoon, I still felt pretty happy on the Prime tyre, and ended Q1 seventh-fastest. But I just couldn’t find a balance on the Option tyre and I struggled for grip with it.
“The good thing is that I’ll be starting on the clean side of the track. Normally, that can make you up a place or two at the start, and there’ll be lots of opportunities into the first corner, which is always exciting here. Plus, I’ve got two new sets of tyres for the race.
“So we can still do a lot from 11th – and I’ll do my very best to pick up some valuable world championship points from there.
“I suppose you could say we’ve just got to be brave tomorrow.”
MARTIN WHITMARSH
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
“Lewis did a fantastic job to qualify immediately behind the Red Bulls and the Ferraris – and, in fact, had he not lost a little time on the second sector of his best lap, it’s just possible that he may even have been able to pip Felipe [Massa] for fourth.
“Having said that, P5 puts him on the clean side of the track for tomorrow’s race, and you can be well sure he’ll be his usual precise yet aggressive self on the initial run in to Turn One.
“Jenson was unlucky to miss out on getting through to Q3 by just 17 thousandths of a second. With hindsight I think perhaps we didn’t engineer him sufficient opportunity to get to grips with the Option tyre. Even so, he, too, will start on the clean side of the track and will also be attacking tomorrow’s race with a mind to bag as many world championship points as he possibly can.”
* Official photos and info courtesy of VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES *
Copyright © 2010, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
Budapest, Hungary, Jul 31, 2010
A strong performance from Nico Rosberg today saw him qualify in sixth place for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest. Team-mate Michael Schumacher had a more difficult session and qualified in 14th position.
Nico was competing towards the front throughout the three qualifying sessions and his final lap in Q3 was good enough to line up on the third row of the grid. Michael struggled more with the set-up of his car and did not progress beyond Q2.
NICO ROSBERG
“I’m pleased to be starting from sixth place as we didn’t think we would be that far forward today, so it’s an unexpected and pleasant surprise. We are a long way from the front which is a concern but we took everything that we could from today and I am happy with our performance. We did a very good job with the set-up which meant we could get the best out of the car. Hopefully I can have a good start and our aim as always is to make up a few more places and get some decent points again.”
MICHAEL SCHUMACHER
“Obviously qualifying was not ideal for us today. After yesterday’s performance, we purposely went for a different set-up which was supposed to tell us more about the car and was targeted more towards the race. It seemed to be reasonable this morning but as the track became hotter in qualifying, it went against us. Our set-up should work better in the race although starting from 14th place does not make it easy. Being on the dirty side of the starting grid does not specifically help, but I will certainly try again to have a good start tomorrow. And from then on we will have to see how the race develops.”
ROSS BRAWN
“We’ve had a challenging weekend with the cars here so far. We did make some progress this morning prior to qualifying and clearly we got the car to suit Nico and he did an excellent job this afternoon. However we didn’t find the right solutions for Michael which was not helped by some vibration problems on his last set of tyres in Q2. I must compliment Nico on a great job and achieving a strong starting position which is as good as we could have hoped given the performance of the car.”
NORBERT HAUG
“Nico and our team did the maximum they could and achieved the best possible result for us today. Sixth place on the dirty side of the track with less grip is not the ideal place for a good start, but our result could have been worse after we faced some problems in finding the right set-up direction for the cars yesterday. Well done to the team for the recovery. Michael tried a different set-up solution which did not work out in the end. A week at Hockenheim, he was eight-thousands of a second slower than Nico and here the margin is much bigger so we just did not get it right.”
* Official photos and info courtesy of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS *
Copyright © 2010, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
Stuttgart, Germany, Jul 30, 2010 – Maybach, the high-end car brand, is adding a new eyewear collection to its range of top-class accessories. Defining features include exquisite materials, painstaking craftsmanship and outstanding design. This makes the exclusive luxury eyewear, lovingly created by the well-known German eyewear manufacturer IVKO, the perfect fashion accessory for genuine connoisseurs.
The various models which make up the new MAYBACH EYEWEAR collection offer character and irresistible style. As with the distinguished interior appointments in the Maybach luxury saloons, only the highest-quality materials are used to create the luxury eyewear. These include fine wood, leather and natural horn, as well as titanium and 18-carat white, yellow and rose gold.
Exclusive stylistic features from the Maybach saloons have also been adapted for the eyewear design. For example leather-trimmed arms feature an artistically inset Maybach logo, metal elements on the arms echo the door sill panels of the high-end saloons, the piano lacquer on the wood and carbon fibre arms recalls the finish of the trim strips in the interior.
While standard eyewear tends to be machine-manufactured, Maybach eyewear is hand-crafted by masters of their art – just like the Maybach vehicles. The lenses for the sunglasses are top-quality products manufactured by Zeiss, the leading force in the field of precision lenses. This ensures outstanding style and a top-class quality befitting of the Maybach brand.
The MAYBACH EYEWEAR collection will be launched at the end of October 2010 with an extensive “Ready-to-wear” collection. This includes eight models of sunglasses in up to nine colours and ten spectacle frames in up to six colours. The choice will include lightweight, rimless models, metal-rim frames and natural horn-rim frames.
In addition there will be a MAYBACH EYEWEAR “Individual” collection, which will cater to various special requests and customisation choices and features 18‑carat gold details. Here 19 unusual natural horn tones are available, six fine wood or wood/carbon fibre combinations and ten lens tints. The Individual collection allows discerning customers the opportunity to adapt their eyewear to their personal tastes, just as is the case with the Maybach saloons. Individual name lettering in the arm underlines the unique character of these special creations.
The high-quality MAYBACH EYEWEAR collection is being manufactured under licence by IVKO GmbH. The eyewear manufacturer has been a leading force in the field of processing high-quality natural materials for optical products for over 30 years. Its products are sold in exclusive eyewear boutiques in over 50 countries worldwide. The MAYBACH EYEWEAR collection will be available from these outlets from the end of October 2010.
Copyright © 2010, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
Budapest, Hungary, Jul 30, 2010LEWIS HAMILTON
- MP4-25A-04
- P1 programme: 15 laps, 1m24.075s (+3.099s), 18th
- P2 programme: 30 laps, 1m21.308s (+1.221s), 6th“It’s been an interesting day. We’ve just been focusing on our package and trying to optimise what we have. And the car was the best I’ve ever driven around here – it felt really great through the corners.
“But, even so, we’re losing quite a bit of time in the middle sector, and a couple of tenths in the first and third sectors, too. And then, as you start to push harder, in order to close the gap to the guys in front, the car begins to feel like it’s a little bit on the ragged edge.
“I think we’re pretty much getting the best out of the package we have – we’re dialing-in the set-up pretty effectively – but there’s still maybe a few tenths to come. So we know we’ve got a lot of work to do: this weekend is really about scoring as many points as we can, and hoping the guys ahead run into trouble.
“It’s going to be tough, but we’ve got to take the rough with the smooth and stay focused. And we’ll do that, no doubt about it. As always, of course, I’ll be pushing as hard as I can.”
JENSON BUTTON
- MP4-25A-03
- P1 programme: 17 laps, 1m22.444s (+1.468s), 4th
- P2 programme: 33 laps, 1m21.730s (+1.643s), 9th
“I’m reasonably happy with the car today. It didn’t feel too great on the Option tyre, but the balance was good on the Prime. However, we’re a little bit behind the Red Bulls and the Ferraris.
“It’s probably therefore going to be a tricky weekend for us. There are still areas where we can improve, which is positive, but we’re unlikely to close the gap completely here in Hungary. Hopefully, though, we’ll see an improvement tomorrow, and that will move us closer.
“Still, we need to be doing the best job we can with the equipment we have, and that’s exactly what we’ll be doing. I know all the guys back at the McLaren Technology Centre are working flat-out to keep improving this car, and I’ve got absolute belief in them.
MARTIN WHITMARSH
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
“Today’s programme was organised a little differently from our regular Friday sessions, as we undertook some shorter evaluative runs during P1 this morning.
“While we’re encouraged by both drivers’ feedback, and by the overall balance of the car, the pace of the front-runners was somewhat unexpected.
“Nevertheless, we’ve amassed plenty of useful data, and we’re armed with a lot of information. As usual, we’ll be working hard tonight in preparation for tomorrow’s qualifying session, and we’re confident of being able to make further improvements to our car.
“In a championship battle as tight as this year’s, the crucial thing is to concentrate on having an error-free weekend and maintain strong consistency – even when faced with challenging circumstances. So that will be our aim for the remainder of this weekend. As ever, it’s going to be a question of discipline, hard work and good racecraft, and that’s what we’ll be aiming to deliver.”
* Official photos and info courtesy of VODAFONE MCLAREN MERCEDES *
Copyright © 2010, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.
