Following three straight defeats at the hands of arch-rivals Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes are approaching the fifth round of the 2008
Formula 1 World Championship in Istanbul as the wounded underdogs – and the team is not predicting any noticeable improvement across the Bosphoros.
Despite triumphing in the Melbourne curtain-raiser back in March,
McLaren have not been able to hold a candle to Ferrari in Malaysia, Bahrain or Spain, allowing the Scuderia to open up a handy 13-point advantage over them in the constructors' standings and defending champion
Kimi Raikkonen a nine-point lead ahead of
Lewis Hamilton in the drivers' title chase.
What's more, the Woking-based concern has triumphed just once in Turkey compared to back-to-back successes for Maranello in 2006 and 2007, and Mercedes-Benz Motorsport Vice-President Norbert Haug admits Ferrari will be the hot favourites to make it four wins on the trot this year when the
F1 circus returns to the country next weekend.
“We didn't really shine there in the past,” the German reflected, notwithstanding Raikkonen's victory at Istanbul Park in 2005, “and also this time we are not the current benchmark. The team wants to score as many points as possible, but after three consecutive wins Ferrari obviously arrive here as the favourites.
“Barcelona was the first grand prix of the European season and, with its challenging track layout, is definitely a yardstick for the following races. In qualifying, we missed pole position by less than three tenths of a second; however, we carried a little more fuel and therefore more weight. Anyway, even with the same fuel load we wouldn't have been fast enough to beat
Ferrari.
