Whitmarsh: ‘Beating Ferrari is doable’

Jenson Button of Great Britain and McLaren celebrates finishing third during the German Grand Prix, 2012.

Team Principal of McLaren, Martin Whitmarsh, is convinced that he is able to fight for the Championship once again with the new developments on both the cars. He also thinks that his drivers Hamilton and Button are strong enough to win.

The McLaren drivers are now 62 and 86 points behind Championship leader Fernando Alonso. Despite the great difference, Whitmarsh is confident that McLaren is able to make a comeback.

“We’re at the halfway point and we’ve got a lot of racing ahead of us,” Martin Whitmarsh said. “They can both do it. This season is going to go right until the very end and I believe we are going to be sat on the edge of our seats right until the final laps of the Brazilian Grand Prix. I hope that I’m in deep agony in those last few laps as that means we’re in contention to win.”

The Team Principal has the opinion that McLaren’s latest update has given the team the ability to start winning races again. “The car is good enough at the moment but we’ve still got half a season to go, so the onus is on us to keep developing it,” he said. “We’ve got a reasonable amount of momentum in the system at the moment so we will be making the car quicker, but our competitors will be trying to respond as well and I think that’s what makes Formula One as exciting as it is.”

Even though the confidence is there, Whitmarsh admits that he recognizes the competition. “Fernando is doing a great job and so is Ferrari,” he concluded. “They’re difficult to beat but it’s doable and we’re a motor racing team and we’re fighters. There are going to be some great races and what we have to concentrate now on race-by-race, trying to win and maximising points to see if we can erode that situation.”

The Formula One World Championship will continue this weekend with round 11 in Hungary.