02/08/2011
NEWS STORY
In the wake of back to back wins, McLaren has given its drivers the all clear to go head to head.
With Lewis Hamilton taking victory in Germany and his teammate Jenson Button winning in Hungary, McLaren heads into the summer break feeling mighty pleased with itself. And rightly so.
Despite Eddie Jordan's fears that the wheels were falling from the British team - coming in the wake of a relatively disastrous home race - the Woking outfit has sent out the message to Red Bull that the 2011 title fight is far from over. Much to the delight of all race fans.
However, while some teams appear to favour one driver over his teammate, or ask its drivers to 'hold station' lest any potential in-team scrap end in tears, McLaren managing director Jonathan Neale has said that Hamilton and Button are free to fight.
"We are not about to compromise our values and what we believe with our racing at McLaren," says Neale, according to the Daily Telegraph. "A number of teams have made the observation that we make championships harder for ourselves but we are about winning races.
"I believe Lewis and Jenson are both driving better as a result of having each other in the team and being allowed to run like that," he continued. "When we were in Canada we let them get on with it and had a coming together. It's risky but when you have back-to-back world champions, you have to respect they are the ones there in the moment.
"Everybody has to run their team by their rules," he added, "but if you look back through our history that is the way that we go about racing. We are still in entertainment and it's important that we do that for the fans."
Referring to Sunday's race, when the pair battled in ever changing conditions, with Red Bull and Ferrari looking to pick up the pieces, Neale admitted: "It was so stressful on the pit wall.
"The mechanics in the garage were looking at it and wincing," he added. "But you have to have confidence in the drivers. There is no attempt to step in or interfere."