 McLaren lead the constructors' championship by three points
McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh predicts the difference in pace between F1 teams will make qualifying at Monaco "very, very difficult" this week. A proposal to limit the cars taking part in the same qualifying session for the race was rejected last week. "We have to accept that there are six cars that are very, very, difficult to avoid," said Whitmarsh. McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton has echoed his team principal's concerns, warning the race could be a "disaster". The tight street circuit, which features several narrow stretches and hairpin bends, could make passing the backmarkers trickier than it has been so far this season.  | 606: DEBATE |
"The new teams have been in the order of six or seven seconds slower," added Whitmarsh. "When you are trying to open a gap and you have cars behind you, you can not back off. "For the slower cars they will do the lap staring in their mirror which I am sure is a distracting thing for them. "Even if they see something in their mirrors, trying to respond to that will be very, very difficult, even if they are on a slow lap, never mind a fast lap." Whitmarsh admitted that he would prefer either different halves of the field running in separate sessions or the slowest teams being given a free track for the first five minutes of the opening session. Currently, all 24 cars take part in the first 20 minutes of qualifying before the slowest seven drop out. F1's three new teams - Lotus, Virgin Racing and Hispania Racing - have occupied six of those seven places in four of the first five races of the 2010 season. Hispania's Bruno Senna was slowest in qualifying at last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix, 5.71 seconds behind Mark Webber's Red Bull in the first session. In the race proper, Hamilton lapped last-placed Lucas di Grassi of Virgin Racing four times before suffering a puncture on the penultimate lap. "It could be a disaster. So far, fortunately, there have been no incidents and it's been OK but Monaco will be very tough," said Hamilton. An investigation into Hamilton's puncture is continuing at McLaren's Woking base with initial evidence pointing to a rim failure as the likely cause.  Hamilton's race in Barcelona ended in the tyre wall |
The incident denied Hamilton a second-placed finish while the 2008 world champion slipped 21 points adrift of team-mate and championship leader Jenson Button. Tactical errors during qualifying in Malaysia and Australia also saw him salvaging sixth-placed finishes from well down the grid. Whitmarsh insists that both Hamilton and championship leader Button are unfortunate not be in stronger positions in the standings. "Lewis and Jenson have both driven brilliantly this year," he said. "They have both had a bit of misfortune and both could have got better results than they have had. "Jenson has made some very good calls, and obviously has two wins to his name and leads the championship. "Lewis has driven just outstandingly. Prior to this weekend he had 32 competitive overtakings in the first four races which is just unprecedented." Button and Hamilton both won the Monaco Grand Prix on their way to winning the drivers' championship in 2009 and 2008 respectively while McLaren have triumphed 15 times in the principality.
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