McLaren have confirmed that they are remaining confident they can catch Red Bull in the closing four rounds of this exceedingly entertaining season, with both Button and Hamilton remaining fully focused on finishing first and second in the remaining races. This comes as Sam Michael confirms the team will be introducing several upgrades in the closing stages of the season.
Despite Red Bull’s sudden resurgence in the last two race weekends at Japan and Korea, which has seen reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel dominate by leading every racing lap, the Woking-based outfit are remaining focused on catching the Red Bull duo and winning the remaining four races. With a certain Fernando Alonso also undoubtedly set on the same ambition, the final four races of the season have all the ingredients of being a sensational spectacle as several previous World Champions aim at reeling in Sebastian Vettel.
"We’re going to push to the end - our target at McLaren is to win every race, and we’ll do our best to achieve that," explained Sam Michael, during a Vodafone phone-in. “Red Bull took quite a big step across Singapore and Suzuka, so they will be tough competitors, but our target is still to beat them. The gaps are very small now, so it only takes one or two tenths to swing from one way to another, and that can be driven off [one team’s] development working, or another team not bringing enough.”
The final four races of the season includes several tracks of differing characteristics, including a semi-street circuit at Abu Dhabi and an entirely new circuit in America which is undoubtedly going to cause a few surprises up and down the paddock. Throughout these final races, Sam Michael has confirmed that McLaren will continue to introduce upgrades on their car, as they continue their aim of remaining a competitive force.
"We do believe we can take the challenge to them; we are turning up trying to finish first and second in the last four races.” Continued Sam Michael, “Our target is still to do as well as we can, and to achieve that we need the car. At this point we normally don’t go into specific details, but we do have upgrades coming [for the next races]."
Whether or not these ambitious aims work out for McLaren will be an intriguing factor in the final races of the season, as Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel battle for the Drivers’ Crown in what has been an incredibly competitive season. Although both Button and Hamilton agree that their Championship chances are now over, their burning desire for victory obviously remains red hot!
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