23/07/2010
NEWS STORY
McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh has revealed that his team will persevere with its new aerodynamic package for the remainder of the German GP weekend.
The team ran the package, which includes its version of the controversial blown diffuser, during the Friday free practice sessions at Silverstone, but opted not to run them for the remainder of the weekend after the drivers said that were not entirely happy.
The team ran the package again today, but the difficult weather conditions, not to mention Lewis Hamilton's accident during the first session, left the team unable to draw any serious conclusions.
At the end of the day's action, Hamilton said: "The new blown diffuser still isn't perfect - it's not something you can just put on the car and drive with the same balance that you had before; you've got to alter the balance, and modify your driving style. We're still working on it, but there's potential there."
"The new floor appears to be working well," added teammate Jenson Button. "But we still need to look at the data to see how much of an improvement it's giving us, but there's no negative to it, which is great."
However, Whitmarsh subsequently revealed that the team will persist with the package. "Based on the data, we will be running it," he said. "The data that I saw from P1, albeit wet, was that the main vehicle airflow, the gas flow from the exhaust, temperatures, the performance and pressure tapping velocities were what we expected them to be.
"So unless something else has come to fruition, which I don't think it has, then we should have the confidence that this floor will do either everything we expect it to or most of what we expect it to," he added.
The Englishman also revealed that "some more bits and pieces" are being rushed to the circuit and that both cars will be in identical trim for qualifying and Sunday's race.