Despite finishing last in last season s championship, it appears that McLaren will not occupy the last pit garages during the 2008 season.
Historically, pit lane garages are allocated according to the order in which the teams have finished the previous year s championship. The order is important as pit garages nearer the top end tend to be larger than those at the lower end of the standings. At the end of the 2007 season, many people wondered how McLaren would cope with having much smaller garages than they were used to, and the answer appears to be they won t have to.
According to Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat, Bernie Ecclestone has ordered a reshuffle of the pit lane garage order so that Formula One s Big Two will both have access to first class circuit facilities. It is believed that Ecclestone originally wanted to give McLaren the third pit garage however Renault, who finished third in the championship, objected and Ecclestone had to settle for giving McLaren the fifth pit garage instead.