Lewis Hamilton has stressed that McLaren is still determined to make improvements to its MP4-24 before the end of the year, even though the team isn’t set to debut any major upgrades at engine partner Mercedes’ home race.
After steady progress with its car in the opening flyaway rounds raised expectations that the team could be back towards the front of the field by mid-season, the Woking squad has generally struggled on F1’s return to Europe with recent races at high-speed tracks in Turkey and Britain exposing its challenger’s aerodynamic weaknesses.
And although speculation several races ago suggested a significant update was pencilled in for either the team’s home Silverstone race or the Nurburgring, Hamilton says he’s not expecting to have a hugely revised car at his disposal in Germany next weekend.
However, the world champion – who has slumped to three consecutive Q1 exits – insists the team is still working hard to improve its fortunes before the end of the season.
“While we aren’t expecting any major upgrades for this weekend, I’m still looking forward to the race,” Hamilton said.
“It’s an honour to be part of the Silver Arrows and, while our results haven’t recently shown it, we’re still pushing incredibly hard and are all hopeful of moving closer to the front before the end of this difficult season.”
Having won the race on F1’s previous two visits to Germany, team boss Martin Whitmarsh acknowledges the team can’t travel to the Nurburgring with similarly lofty ambitions this time around – but says everyone at Woking is working hard to improve its fortunes.
“While we can’t expect to match our previous record in Germany, where we’ve won the race for the past two seasons, we’re still pushing hard to develop MP4-24 into a more competitive proposition,” he said.
“Make no mistake, we’re hugely proud of having the Mercedes-Benz three-pointed star on the front of our cars – and nothing would make us prouder than getting back to the front again as soon as we possibly can.”
Although the perennial front-running team has endured an unusually tough campaign, the performances of Mercedes' V8 engine, which is also powering championship leader Brawn, and KERS system have won paddock plaudits.
Heikki Kovalainen believes the German car maker deserves praise for its 2009 efforts and promises to put on the best show possible at its home race.
“Coming to Germany is the perfect time to pay tribute to the efforts of everyone at Mercedes-Benz,” the Finn said.
“Their engines are probably the most powerful and most reliable in the sport and their KERS is also fantastic.
“Mercedes-Benz has played such a big role in the success of our team, so I’m really hoping to have a strong race in front of all our supportive fans at our second home race of the season.
“Myself, Lewis and the rest of the team are working hard to develop this car – it’s a long process, but we are all pulling together and we’re hopeful of making some further steps soon.”