...Mclaren's proximity in the end result at Barcelona is not completely accurate because there were too many SC laps...
Very true, but that cars' race pace was not too far off the Ferraris as well. Spain should have been a route by Ferrari, but McLaren were closer than everybody expected. Then, last weekend, McLaren could easily have got a one-two finish had things have worked out better with the tyres of Kovalainen not getting a puncture. If McLaren are to be believed, no additional parts were put on the car from Spain for Turkey; it was just that the team did a better job in terms of car setup etc. Again, that is pretty encouraging from a McLaren perspective.
From
autosport.com:
BMW predict strong race in Monaco
By Jonathan Noble and Pablo Elizalde Monday, May 12th 2008, 14:47 GMT
Nick Heidfeld in TurkeyBMW motorsport boss Mario Theissen is confident his team will be strong at the Monaco Grand Prix after failing to fight near the top in Turkey.
"For Monaco I am really confident, the car should be okay there, the car should be strong," Theissen said.
"Montreal is a different game then but we have some developments for Montreal which I hope will improve and make our car very competitive there as well.
"I think the car should suit the (Monaco) track, or viceversa, and we should be in good shape there."
BMW were unable to run near rivals Ferrari or McLaren in Istanbul, with Robert Kubica finishing over 20 seconds behind race winner Felipe Massa in fourth place. Kubica's teammate Nick Heidfeld was fifth.
Despite their performance, Theissen admitted he was pleased to leave Istanbul with nine points.
"Given the starting positions I am very satisfied with the result," he said. "Both drivers made up positions at the start. We expected Robert would not be able to hold Kimi behind himself, which happened.
"On the other hand Nick gained two positions at the first stop so four and five was really what we could achieve.
"For me this is a good result and an important result, and if you go home with nine points under less than perfect conditions that is fine."
The team endured their worst qualifying performance of the season in Turkey, with Kubica starting from fifth and Heidfeld down in ninth.
Theissen said they were unsure about the reasons for their lack of pace.
"I am not sure yet," he said.
"We just figured out in qualifying an unexpected tyre behaviour over the one hour of qualifying, and so although we focused on running with fuel in all practices, we were super fast without fuel in Q2 and with fuel it didn't work, and other drivers were struggling as well. This is something we have to analyse."
Despite the result in Turkey, BMW are still in second place in the standings, two points ahead of McLaren.From
BBC Sport:
Hamilton cautious on Monaco hopes
Hamilton says the Monaco Grand Prix is his favourite race
Lewis Hamilton is expecting a tight battle with Ferrari at the Monaco Grand Prix on 25 May despite McLaren's strength at the Monte Carlo circuit.
Hamilton, who is seven points behind Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen in the title race, completed a McLaren one-two behind Fernando Alonso last season.
"I don't think we will have the dominance we had last year because the teams are much closer," said Hamilton.
"I think we can put together a better package, but it will be closer."
Hamilton is out to end Ferrari's four-race winning streak at the demanding race through the streets of Monte Carlo and win at his favourite circuit for the first time.
The Briton boosted his title challenge with second place at last weekend's Turkish Grand Prix, but is uncertain whether McLaren's will retain their edge in Monaco.
"Monaco is the dream Grand Prix to win, the most important race to win personally," said Hamilton.
"If I feel I can win anywhere, it is definitely Monaco, but you have to be in the right place at the right time.
"And it is difficult to know exactly how we will do at Monaco because there are so many differences to Istanbul."
McLaren raced to first and second place in Monaco last season as Alonso and Hamilton were in a race of their own at the front of the field.
Hamilton came close to overhauling the Spaniard in the latter half of the race and McLaren later admitted they had asked Hamilton not to challenge his team-mate for victory.
But the Briton is not expecting team orders to come into play at this year's race despite his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen showing glimpses of superior pace.
Kovalainen started last weekend's Turkish Grand Prix on the front row of the grid, ahead of Hamilton, and could have beaten eventual winner Felipe Massa had he not suffered a puncture in a collision with Raikkonen at the first corner.
Heading into Monaco, Hamilton has a 14-point advantage over Kovalainen but does not want the team to show him any favouritism.
"It would not be right for the team to push me ahead of him," said the 23-year-old.
"If I am not winning then I wish he was and it is the same feeling vice-versa, so I want it to continue as it is, fair and square.
"We are a team and I felt sorry for him that he was not able to compete in Turkey. I have no doubts he will be up at the front next time out." From
ITV.com/F1:
Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali believes that Renault and BMW could infiltrate the Scuderia's battle with McLaren in the forthcoming Monaco Grand Prix.
The Monte Carlo track often shakes up the pecking order, as its uniquely tight layout and low-grip surface make very different demands to the other circuits on the calendar.
The challenge of finding the limit between the barriers also brings out the best in some drivers and regularly allows feats of giant-killing.
Domenicali therefore expects BMW and Renault to step up and challenge the top two in the Principality – and perhaps to run a bold strategy in qualifying and snatch the leading grid spots.
"I think that not only McLaren will be strong [in Monaco]," he said.
"I am expecting Renault and BMW of course to be strong again, above all as it's the track where qualifying can be different.
"You can be aggressive but then even if you run longer at that circuit, everything will be different, so I think Monte Carlo will be a very important race for everyone.
"I'm expecting the others – not only McLaren but BMW, Renault – to be very aggressive there."
He said Ferrari would prepare carefully for Monaco qualifying to try to stop any underdogs springing a surprise and upsetting his team's race strategy.
"We need to think very carefully how to approach qualifying because that, for sure, will affect the race more than at other tracks," Domenicali said.
"So it's two weeks of very hard work to try to see how we think we need to work and also how we think the others will attack us, above all in qualifying."
Ayrton Senna: WDC 1988,
1989, 1990, 1991
McLaren: WCC 1974, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998,
1999, 2007McLaren: WDC 1974, 1976, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2008
