To quote Gary Anderson; "All we learned today is that you get wet if you stand in the middle of the pit-lane"... Don't go getting too excited RC; free practice means nothing, it means even less than nothing when it rains as teams sit 60% of the sessions out. I heard some interesting commentary on the BBC about how the McLaren is being developed more towards Lewis' driving style which would explain why Jenson is struggling, the two drivers like a very different set-up; Lewis likes the rear to slide around a little, Jenson needs a planted rear end to prosper!
Although I am starting to get a little tired of hearing Jenson complain of no grip; man up and get on with it, Jenson!
This is what many of us have been complaining about, McLaren have been compromising their better driver to accomodate a 'special needs' driver. Development and setup was influenced by Jensons 'needs' and Lewis appeared to be an afterthought. Now the team have realised that to develop towards Jenson is an open ended iterative process that ends up looking like Honda/Bar/Earth Car.
How can one produce a perfect car for Miss Daisy when the goalposts keep changing wrt regulations, tyres, weather, different tracks etc, no matter what you give him there will always be 'no grip' when he is required to drive the pants of the car and qualify high and compete with drivers in closely matched cars. Maybe McLaren expect the top runners to make mistakes and crash out each race allowing Jenson to finish at the front
Maybe someone at McLaren realises that in a development race, you cannot be at the cutting edge if each update has to be perfect and can only be deployed if it doesnt affect the perfect balance of princess 'pea in the bed'