NOVEMBER 5, 2012

McLaren takes little consolation in new milestones

The Abu Dhabi GP may not have been the greatest race in the team's history, with more reliability issues ending pole position man and race leader Lewis Hamilton's afternoon 20 laps into the race's 55, but a couple of new milestones reflect the team's history and success.

Before Hamilton's fuel pump failed, he had already led McLaren's 50,000th kilometre at the front of world championship grands prix.

And, when Jenson Button finished fourth, it brought the team's run of successive points-scoring races to 56, eclipsing a record previously held by Ferrari.

"Neither of those statistics provide much comfort," said team principal Martin Whitmarsh after the race, "but they bear witness to a truly impressive magnum opus of on-track McLaren achievement in Formula One, going all the way back to 1966."