Performance Shortfall?

So it's official; Brawn are serious contenders... I don't care where your from - you have to admit the raw pace they obviously are getting out of that car is pretty damn good. Three days at the top of the time sheets means that they have to be seriously thinking they have a car which can get on the podium consistently - with any luck. Anyone fancy putting a fiver on a Jenson Button win this season? I'm seriously considering it. Ross Brawn had this to say:

"We are extremely pleased with the inaugural test of the BGP 001 car in Barcelona this week. The team made a very late start to our pre-season testing programme with only seven days in which to run the car before the first race in Melbourne, therefore our focus has been on reliability and achieving as much mileage as possible. Both of these aims have been successfully achieved this week. That the car has run so reliably 'out of the box' is a tribute to the strong team that we have at our factory in Brackley and they have done a great job during a very difficult period. The car is performing to our expectations and the feedback from Jenson (Button) and Rubens has been positive with both drivers completing full race distances.”

But where are McLaren? Ron Dennis just a couple of days ago was adamant that there was nothing to worry about... Well look at what team boss Martin Whitmarsh said:

"We are working hard to resolve a performance shortfall. Initial testing of the MP4-24, which first ran with an interim aero package, went in accordance with our early developmental expectations," he said. "This week the car has run in Barcelona with an updated aero package and a performance shortfall has been identified. Our Mercedes-Benz engine is strong so the MP4-24's performance shortfall is clearly chassis-centric. Ron, Norbert and I have enormous faith in the ability of our engineers and we are working as hard as they are to make the MP4-24 competitive enough to win Grands Prix."

I can only take from this that they know that the engine is good (look at Brawn!) but the aero package is literally flapping in the wind. They appear to be at a loss as to how to adapt to the new rule changes. This has been a recurring theme with McLaren. They have often been slow to adapt to new rule changes but come good by mid season. In this day and age with reliability being so good and your opposition ready to score wins from day one it may be too little too late to take this championship.

It will be interesting to see if the final test at Jerez for McLaren bares any fruit for them while for Ferrari and a couple of other teams, today is their last day of testing. It will also be interesting to see how Lewis Hamilton reacts to an uncompetitive car. Will he be able to motivate the team like Alonso or Schumacher were able to and get the team out of the "performance shortfall" as Martin Whitmarsh put it?


Unofficial Thursday times from Barcelona:

01. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn BGP 001, 1:18.926
02. Nico Rosberg, Williams FW31, 1:19.774
03. Timo Glock, Toyota TF109, 1:20.091
04. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB5, 1:20.576
05. Fernando Alonso, Renault R29, 1:20.664
06. Felipe Massa, Ferrari F60, 1:20.677
07. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber F1.09, 1:20.740
08. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4-24, 1:20.869
09. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso STR4, 1:21.013
10. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India VJM02, 1:21.045
11. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso STR4, 1:21.629