Formula One news
McLaren celebrates 'tremendous' victory
19 October 2008 / Results / PhotosMcLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai and heads to the seasonal finale in Brazil with a seven-point advantage over Felipe Massa, his sole challenger for the world title. Heikki Kovalainen was delayed by understeer during the opening stint due to the fitting of a set of mismatched tyres; but he led for three laps before being delayed by an entirely separate tyre issue that forced him to pit early on lap 35. Kovalainen was eventually forced to retire on lap 50 following a loss of hydraulic pressure.
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"Everything just went right this weekend: our car has been simply phenomenal, I made one of my best-ever starts and had perfect balance during the race," Hamilton said. "I owe so much of that to the guys in the team - both at the track and back home; they did an amazing job so a big thanks to them. I've got a seven-point lead in the world championship, but that doesn't allow me to take anything for granted. It might be another step towards my dream but we've still got to stay calm and keep our heads. I just hope we can pull through."
Kovalainen commented, "I made a good start, got past Fernando and almost got alongside Felipe. Fernando managed to repass me before Turn 14 and I settled do wn in fifth. I had a lot of understeer during my first stint and tried to improve things
during the first stop by raising the front wing angle. Later, I was still running in the points when I had a puncture early on in the lap - it cost me a lot of time driving slowly back to the pits and I knew it would be an uphill struggle for the rest of the race. In the closing stages, I had a problem with the pneumatic system so the team called me in as a precautionary measure. We still have a chance to win the constructors' championship in Brazil, so I'll definitely be going for it in Sao Paulo."
Team boss Ron Dennis added, "No-one will be surprised to hear me describe today's team performance as a tremendous one, because that's exactly what it was. In difficult circumstances we never allowed our focus to waver, and we paced ourselves carefully throughout. Lewis did a truly fabulous job, as did our entire team. Our race strategy was extremely solid too, but the key message from China that we take forward to Brazil is that we qualified extremely well despite the fact that our cars were fuelled longer than those of our principal opposition, which clearly demonstrates the inherent pace of our car. Heikki's first stint was compromised by the fitting of a set of mismatched tyres, which caused his car to understeer. After his first stop, a punctured tyre then forced an unscheduled pitstop before an air pressure problem with his engine caused us to retire him in order to avoid risking an engine failure."
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