Zoom A decisive advantage will be difficult to obtain for either team, says Whitmarsh

At the rain-hit Italian Grand Prix last week-end, Heikki Kovalainen claimed the second step of the podium and thereby delivered a good points haul for himself and the McLaren team. The result was a good one for the Finn, although he had expected to take the win ahead of Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Vettel, and not the contrary.

Lewis Hamilton began the race from 15th on the grid and strongly pushed his way towards the front, crossing the Monza finish line in seventh position. The performance granted two precious championship points, just enough to allow him to hold the lead in the drivers' standings by a single point ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa.

With four events still on the 2008 calendar, only five points separate McLaren from Ferrari in the constructors' championship.

Martin Whitmarsh, the McLaren Mercedes team's CEO Formula One, looks back at this season's final European round. He also speaks of the upcoming Asian and South American races, as well as this week's group testing at the Jerez circuit.

Lewis described his result in the Italian Grand Prix as 'damage limitation' - would you agree?

"Very much so. In conditions such as we saw at Monza last weekend, it can be very difficult to tick every single box and have a trouble-free weekend. Our difficulties started on Saturday afternoon when our weather forecasting predicted the rains were easing, which led us to fit standard wets to Lewis' car for Q2. Unfortunately, when we quickly aborted this run as the rain intensified, valuable time was lost when Lewis was called into the weigh bridge and we could, thereafter, not generate the necessary tyre temperatures to be completed in that session. Having said that, I think we recovered very well from Saturday, very consciously played the numbers correctly on Sunday, and secured a sizeable haul of constructors' points."

Heikki looked disappointed not to finish higher than second - was there a reason for that?

"Heikki has no reason to feel disappointed - the reality is that he didn't put a foot wrong all weekend and looked blindingly fast in dry, damp and full-wet conditions; fuel-corrected, he would have been on pole position comfortably. He struggled a little with visibility in the early stages of the race and had a few difficulties with his tyres and brake temperatures, but we are not disappointed with his result. Let's not forget that Heikki is fearsomely quick but is still very much developing his approach. We have a clearly defined programme for him in the weeks and months ahead and feel certain that he will only grow stronger."