Lewis Hamilton has acknowledged the MP4-25 as the best car he has ever driven, after spending much of 2009 at the back of the grid.
The Woking based outfit has managed to deliver a race winning car after just three races, thanks to Jenson Button’s thrilling victory in Melbourne.
Hamilton has had to battle his way through the pack after some poor strategy decisions from his team, but the fact he has been able to overtake and move through the grid shows the pace the McLaren has.
“I think I’m driving as well as I ever have,” he told his official website.
“I love driving this year’s car: I said to my engineers in Malaysia that I’d never had a car that felt as solid and as planted as the MP4-25, it feels like a car that you can not only find a perfect balance with, but you can also really push it, and it reacts well to the changes on full-tanks or when it’s empty.
“I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed driving a Formula 1 car more than I have with this year’s car. Of course, it hasn’t been perfect – but then nothing is – but I feel extremely confident for the races ahead,” he said.
After a torrid 2009 season which saw the MP4-24 at the back of the grid, McLaren spent much of the season pushing through various developments, which eventually resulted in two victories.
This ability to develop is something Hamilton reckons will be key to the championship fight.
“I think we learned a lot of lessons about how to work in the field when we were battling back in 2009, and I’m very confident that we’ll be able to do the same thing this year. As I’ve always said, the outcome of the world championship could be decided by the speed of development among the top teams – and I know that our team do an absolutely fantastic job in this department.”
