• McLaren news

McLaren getting a handle on tyres

McLaren is confident is making progress with the Pirelli tyres © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• Teams:
• McLaren

McLaren's operations director Simon Roberts says that McLaren learnt "a huge amount" about the Pirelli tyres in Canada but believes all of the big teams are making progress.

While some observers have criticised Pirelli for its tyres having too much of an impact on the racing this season, Paul Hembery maintains that the teams will eventually get on top of the 2012 compounds. Roberts said it was clear that the bigger teams were making progress and that Jenson Button's troubles relative to Lewis Hamilton in Canada had helped McLaren learn, but didn't think any team was yet in complete control of the tyres.

"I think all of the teams are learning, without a shadow of a doubt," Roberts said during a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes phone-in. "Whether anybody has actually really solved the conundrum yet I don't know. I think every race that goes by and every set of data we get - certainly for the big teams who have got enough analysis going on in the background - we're always making steps forward.

"I think we did learn a huge amount in Canada, unfortunately, and I think that stands us in pretty good stead. Whether we've cracked it or not, I wouldn't like to say. If we get a one-two in Valencia then I'd say we've done a pretty good job. It is a challenge and everyone does focus on the tyres but all the cars are very close, it's very competitive so you have to push all the time. Just a small mistake in qualifying can make a huge difference these days."

With McLaren having shown an improved pit stop performance in Canada, Roberts also said that he hoped it would mark a turning point for the team after its early-season troubles.

"I hope it does, yes. We're very conscious when we make changes to the way we do things - obviously you can inadvertently increase level of risk or just get people slightly out of position. So the guys on the race team have done a huge amount of work all season really on trying to refine the pit stop strategy and even the way we approach qualifying. I think we were fairly pleased in Canada, hopefully we've turned a corner; we're not planning anything different going forward, the equipment I think is now pretty stable so no big changes. So hopefully we'll just consolidate on what we've been doing and keep it in the sweet spot."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.