Pit problem did not affect outcome, stresses Whitmarsh

Martin Whitmarsh has lowered question marks surrounding McLaren's pit lane mistake in Valencia by explained how the pace of the MP4-24 was not up to holding back the flying Brawn of Rubens Barrichello in Sunday's European Grand Prix.

Barrichello's string of rapid laps, particularly in and out times around pit-stops, arguably won the race for the Brazilian in Spain although a stationary time of over 13 seconds certainly slowed World Champion Hamilton's charge as the right-front tyre remained in its blanket.

"I think it was clear that we weren't as quick in the race as we should have been," McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh told the BBC after the race. "Rubens was running quite a bit longer than us and we had to open a bigger gap; we tried and pushed so we could try and get an extra lap - that made our call late and we didn't get the tyres out on time. It probably cost us two seconds but it didn't effect the outcome of the race.

"The fact is that we didn't have the race pace to win so we pushed it to the absolute limit, we're not there to get second. We monitor the fuel flow and we were trying to get the extra lap; in doing so, it cost us a couple of seconds - had we come in without the delay it wouldn't have made any difference to the outcome. The fact is, we weren't quick enough in race pace."

Source: GP Update