Jenson Button 4th, Lewis Hamilton 5th

“At the start of the race, the drivers in front weren’t struggling on the option tyre as much as we’d expected. So we were a little bit compromised, and I think we stayed out too long for our first stint. “As soon as we saw the others were quick on the option, and I wasn’t able to pull a gap, or pressure anyone in front, maybe it would have been sensible to pit at that point and fit the option. “We’ll go away and look at the data, and the reasons for it. It was a tough race on such old tyres, but it was fun once we’d fitted the option; the car felt great - I had a lot of grip, and the car was very fast. “Still, we weren’t quick enough today to beat the Red Bulls and possibly the Ferrari. And I don’t think we’d have finished any further up. I’m in the same championship position as I was before this race, so the title’s getting more difficult.

We came here with a lot of different new parts - some of them worked really well, while others need a bit of work. “We’ve just got to hope that when we put the new package on the car in Korea, we get the best out of it. “This wasn’t a great weekend for me. I made a mistake on Friday, then we changed the gearbox yesterday and I got a grid penalty, and then I had another gearbox problem in the race. “That’s an unfortunate amount of collective bad luck, but the team and I will bounce back.With the gearbox, I was running normally, then downshifted into third, accelerated and lost the gear. After that, I had to rely on just fourth gear and above. “I didn’t think the car would make it - it was making a lot of strange noises, but I kept my fingers crossed, tried not to shift too much and looked after it to the flag. I’m thankful and so happy that I least saw the end of the race - it’s my first finish for a long time. “The championship doesn’t look great at the moment.

But there are still three races to go and 75 points available, so we’ll remain optimistic and keep doing the best job we can. “Obviously we played the long-game with Jenson, who was the only frontrunner to start on primes. Ultimately, that strategy didn’t come off as best we’d have liked because the others’ option tyres didn’t fall away as quickly as we’d anticipated. Still, we feel it was a strategic choice worth taking. After switching to options, Jenson showed excellent pace, and I think we had the second fastest car today. Lewis did a great job, consistently closing the gap to the car in front before encountering a gearbox problem towards the end of the race. “Initial analysis suggests this was a dog-ring failure that lost Lewis third gear. As a result, Lewis drove brilliantly, adapting his technique to race to the flag in fourth gear and above. We’re confident it can be resolved for Korea without incurring a five-place grid penalty. For the final three races, we’ve got to make sure we have 100 per cent reliability. “With 75 points to play for in the drivers’ championship, and 129 in the constructors’, our title challenge is still very much alive. We’ll keep on pushing and developing this car. There’s no reason why we can’t be fighting for the championship in Abu Dhabi.

As we left the island’s primary roads for the twisties ascending the extinct volcano’s walls to the observatory, the SLK’s locked-down feeling continued. Our route took us into the clouds that were heavy with moisture and the narrow roads turned slick. It seemed that the entire ride up the mountain was a Falling Rock Zone, and plenty of rocks littered the asphalt - like we needed more excitement. Even running uphill, the 302-hp six-cylinder had plenty of power in reserve. Thinking that leaving the electronic stability control in the ‘On’ position was a good idea, we’d often feel it working to keep the SLK in line. As expected, it immediately curbed any oversteer, but did so in a way that wasn’t retaliatory - it simply chided for being overexuberant. What was unexpected was the so-called torque-vectoring function of the Electronic Stability Control. When diving into a corner under braking, we’re trained to expect a certain amount understeer - particular from Mercedes.

The SLK senses the understeer and helps to mitigate it by adding a measured amount of braking to the inside rear wheel, helping to increase the car’s yaw rate and make it rotate more easily. We’ll have to wait for the AMG-tuned version of the SLK to arrive before this chassis can be completely exploited, but indications are good thus far. Unfortunately, the ESC on the SLK350 cannot be completely disabled. When the dash switch is toggled off, the tires will spin to aid acceleration on snow or through mud, but any yaw immediately triggers a throttle intervention. When the AMG version arrives, expect an option to completely shut down the ESC. Even with ESC on, the SLK remained a remarkably fun steer. The traditional hydraulic rack-and-pinion box had a natural on-center feel. Rolling off of center, starting at about 5 degrees, the box cranks the wheels with a constant ratio. At 100 degrees of steering angle - just beyond a quarter turn and just before your arms get crossed up - the ratio increases and the wheels turn more quickly.