Button: McLaren can catch Ferrari in the constructors’ standings

Jenson Button believes that McLaren can finish ahead of Scuderia Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship at the end of this season. McLaren had an excellent race weekend in Russia, culminating in a 4th place for Jenson Button and a 5th place for Kevin Magnussen, marking the best result for the English team this year since Melbourne, the first round of the season.

Their direct competitor in the constructors’ standings, Sahara Force India, is now 20 points behind, but Jenson Button seems to be looking beyond defending McLaren’s 5th place in the constructors’ championship. Close to the podium once again, Jenson Button told Sky Sports that the Sochi circuit was made for the MP4-29, and the English driver remains confident for the next race in Austin: “I think we have made progress. We haven’t yet shown the full potential of the car, but I hope we can demonstrate our progress in Austin.”

The end of the season is approaching, Jenson Button hinted that 5th place would not meet McLaren’s ambitions for this 2014 season: « We are only 45 points behind Ferrari. I know it’s a big ask, but the last race is double points… we could potentially get involved in the fight. »

The Englishman finished 4th in the Grand Prix held in Sochi and he feels that he learned a lot from the 53 laps on the Russian circuit: « The first five or six laps were fun, then after that it was a bit boring really. But well boring in a good way because we could run our own race and really exploit the car. You are always working on the best places to save the ERS so as not to be flat out and to save fuel and to get the most out of things. So it was interesting in that regard. We did our best – 10 seconds behind 3rd place and 30 seconds ahead of the first Ferrari and even more on the Red Bull. »