• McLaren

Martin Whitmarsh expects more overtaking in 2010

Martin Whitmarsh thinks the ban on refuelling will encourage on-track overtaking © Sutton Images

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• Drivers:
• Jenson Button
• |
• Lewis Hamilton
• |
• Martin Whitmarsh

• Teams:
• McLaren

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh believes the ban on refuelling will mean more overtaking in this season.

The new regulation was introduced for safety reasons and to encourage overtaking on the track rather than during pit stops. The cars will still change tyres but will have to start the race with enough fuel to complete the full distance. The change in rules has been met with a mixed response, as some claim it will make the sport even more processional as cars won't be able to overtake on the track or in the pits. However, Whitmarsh thinks the ban will have the desired effect.

"Inevitably, when you make a change, there are pros and cons," he said. "Regarding the pros, it arguably makes qualifying purer because the fastest car/driver combination will be setting the fastest times, and the public can understand that. Secondly, in the race itself, overtaking was often being planned and implemented to occur as a consequence of strategy, and therefore happening in the pit lane and not the circuit.

"In the absence of that effect, drivers will have a greater incentive to overtake. There have been occasions in the past where a driver hasn't had that incentive because he knows he will be running longer and can get past the car ahead strategically through the pit stops.

"Additionally, the fact that drivers will qualify on low-fuel, and then the next time they drive the car in anger into the first corner will be after a standing start with cold tyres and cold brakes and 160kg of fuel. That will be very challenging for them, not just in terms of getting round that first corner, but in terms of how they look after their tyres and how the balance of the car will alter as a consequence of that.

"Those are all the positives. On the negative side, it's possible that if all of the above is managed equally well by every driver, then we'll have lost one of the strategic campaign interests that the more avid fans enjoyed in the sport. Hopefully the former points will outweigh the latter."

Whitmarsh has overseen the development of McLaren's new car, the MP4-25, around a larger fuel tank. He is confident that his team has adapted to the new regulations well and will continue to make the kind of progress which saw it fight from the back of the grid to race wins over the course of the 2009 season.

"During the development of MP4-25, we set ourselves some very high targets - and I'm enormously pleased with the way our designers and engineers have tackled the approach to the new car," he said. "The new regulations have obviously had an effect on the car's appearance, with the much higher-capacity fuel tank looking more striking than before.

"But we're pleased with a number of solutions we've been able to bring to the car, and I think we're cautiously optimistic that, after the experience of last year and, in particular, the momentum we gathered in the second half of the season, we'll have a competitive car for both Jenson [Button] and Lewis [Hamilton].

"Is it a championship contender? It's still far too early to say. Will it win races? We certainly hope so. Am I proud of the effort we've currently invested in the car? Most definitely."

Martin Whitmarsh thinks his drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will get on fine © Sutton Images

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The car will be unveiled on Friday 29 and will hit the track for the first time at the joint test in Valencia on February 1. Gary Paffett looks likely to be the first to drive now that former test driver Pedro de la Rosa has been signed to race for Sauber. Lewis Hamilton is expected to run the car on day two with Jenson Button taking to the track on day three. Whitmarsh is confident that having the two most recent world champions in the team will only be an asset.

"Knowing Lewis as I do, and having got to know more of Jenson during the limited time I've spent with him, I feel relatively confident that our driver line-up this year will be a very stable and mutually productive one," he said. "But neither became world champion simply by driving at the limit on the racetrack; they've each been responsible for moulding and developing an organisation around them, and in exploiting the skills of their respective engineers to the best of their abilities. And it's that sort of approach that we'll be looking to encourage from both drivers in order to give us a performance advantage.

"We've also got an extremely experienced and capable race team, and we feel that will play absolutely to our drivers' strengths. Equally, they know that Formula One in 2010 will be more competitive than ever before. Collaboration, understanding and the shared development of the car will be at the forefront of everybody's mind. And given the testing limitations and the minimal track time at the weekend, it's the only way to get ahead. Both Jenson and Lewis fully understand that.

"That's why I'm so thrilled with our driver partnership - I really think it will play to the strengths of modern Formula One. Of course, we wouldn't be going racing if we couldn't let our drivers 'off the leash', but our absolute priority is to develop a front-running car."

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