McLaren hope error woes are in the past

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McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh admits his squad have been left “frustrated” by their inability to capitalise on their good starts this year…

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh admits his squad have been left “frustrated” by their inability to capitalise on their good starts this year.

Despite having the one of the fastest cars in both qualifying and on race days, the team won just one of the first five races of the season with Jenson Button’s victory in the season-opening Australian GP their only success.

Whitmarsh and company, though, will be the first to point out that McLaren have been their own worst enemy as mistakes have cost them dearly every single race weekend.

Although confident that they will not repeat the errors, the McLaren boss can’t help but lament the fact that they have thrown away several good starts.

“We should have had more success then we’ve had,” he said during a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes phone-in. “I think in life, we all have moments of frustration.”

He added: “I’m very frustrated. We’ve got a reasonable car and two great drivers. Either could win Drivers’ Championship and this team could win the Constructors’ title. We’re in a strong position.

“We are confident the issues we have had so far have been dealt with and are in the past.

“I’m mindful that in the present, there are always new things that can come and bite you so we should not be complacent and say we’ve sorted everything.

“We’ve made a range of changes within the team in terms of processes and personnel to deal with some of the issues.

“Everyone in this company is mindful that a small humour error on their part could draw some difficulty in any of the races that are left this season.”