McLaren’s 2011 car is at least a second off the pace, according to Lewis Hamilton.<\/p>\n
After ending the final Barcelona test as the fourteenth fastest driver overall, the 2008 world champion insisted to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport that the MP4-26 is not really two seconds slower than the pacesetters.<\/p>\n
“We are not two seconds from the top, even though I never made it out of the 1.22s,” said the Briton.<\/p>\n
“But in the long runs, the laptimes are okay,” added Hamilton.<\/p>\n
Asked what he thinks he would have managed in full qualifying trim, he answered: “Low 1.22.”<\/p>\n
The best time overall in Barcelona was Michael Schumacher’s 1.21.2, so a low 1.22 would have placed the McLaren behind Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, Sauber, Renault and perhaps even Williams and Toro Rosso.<\/p>\n
Auto Motor und Sport said the MP4-26’s main problems are the exhaust and “deformation” of the front wing.<\/p>\n
“Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the guys come up with something,” said Hamilton.<\/p>\n
The report said the enlarged nose device run on the car last week contained a motor that moved the arms to simulate different wing deformations under load.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, McLaren reverted to what Auto Motor und Sport describes as a “very conventional” exhaust solution last week, following problems with other layouts.<\/p>\n
The report referred to F1’s banning of the use of an incombustible material called Pyrosic for the entire exhausts, on the grounds that such a solution would have cost EUR 20,000 per car.<\/p>\n
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