McLaren-Honda: Button Remains Confident for the Future
McLaren-Honda experienced a weekend concluded by the retirements of its two drivers in Malaysia. Despite everything, Jenson Button is happy to have been able to temporarily reach the top 10 during the race.
While he managed to finish the inaugural race in Melbourne, Jenson Button retired this weekend for the second round in Malaysia, with his teammate Fernando Alonso experiencing the same fate. However, the Spanish driver was temporarily in eighth position but was forced to retire due to an ERS problem.
Two weeks ago, at the Australian Grand Prix, Jenson Button finished just outside the points after battling with Force India, Sauber, and Lotus. For him, the MP4-30 showed progress in its second GP: « I prefer to finish this way than to finish nowhere. It was an interesting race because after the safety car, Merhi was in front of me and he must not have read the rules, he didn’t try to catch the safety car. I know they aren’t fast, but they are faster than that. »
He continues to explain why he is satisfied with his race: « It’s nice to see other cars performing better. We were faster than the Force India and the Sauber, yet they are on the same pace as the Lotus. It’s a bit of a pleasant surprise for us because it is also very interesting to see our strengths and weaknesses compared to these cars. It was interesting to race with other people and somewhat unexpectedly see the Red Bull so far from the race lead; it’s surprising. Our weekend wasn’t so bad in the end, just a bit messy in terms of pit stops. »
McLaren would have gained 1.5 seconds in terms of performance, this time it is Ron Dennis who explains it for Sky Sports F1: « I think we have reasonable expectations. It will be in Europe that we will achieve a greater level of maturity and be able to position ourselves relative to the rest of the field. We are satisfied, if we can have the same progress between Australia and the next three races, then it will bode well for the rest of the season. »
