A McLaren Honda far from the mark but finishing thanks to Button

The impressive number of retirements before and during the Australian Grand Prix worked in Jenson Button’s favor, as he started 16th and was able to climb up the rankings steadily. The experienced Briton notably made a mark with his rugged defense of his position against Sergio Pérez during the first half of the Grand Prix. However, the end of the Englishman’s race was more mixed with some gearbox issues.

The triple winner of the Australian Grand Prix is nonetheless trying to find the positives from this weekend: “It was a good day,” he said once out of the car. “We are still far from the leaders, but this result is a good starting point, I enjoyed this race. I was even able to fight on the track with ‘Checo’ [Sergio Pérez, editor’s note]. We were as fast as the Force India in the corners.”

« This race will help us in terms of development: if we had only done three laps, we would not have been able to learn much information, which is why we learned a lot by finishing this race. »

The veteran of the track (35 years old) also had the opportunity to identify the key areas for improvement to address the multitude of issues faced by the MP4-30: « There is a lot of progress to be made in power, handling, downforce, and setup ».

If Jenson Button was therefore lucky enough to finish the race, Kevin Magnussen’s progress was completely different. “The day was frustrating for me,” stated the Dane. His installation lap towards the grid was indeed marked by large plumes of smoke from the back of his car. His Honda engine had just given up, leading to the driver’s premature withdrawal even before reaching the starting grid.

« I really wanted to race in this car today. Despite my retirement, it was good to come here this weekend, I really enjoyed it. But although I couldn’t start, the team can learn things from my issue. » The runner-up of the 2014 Australian Grand Prix still wants to acknowledge Jenson Button’s arrival on board the other car:

« We can take positives from Jenson’s race; we came here to learn anyway. Finishing is really a small victory for the team because we didn’t think we would be able to complete the race. »

Kevin Magnussen’s misfortunes also affect Fernando Alonso because the engine quota is aligned per car and not per driver. Thus, only 3 engine blocks are available for the rest of the season for the double world champion, who is expected in Sepang in two weeks. Nevertheless, Magnussen wants to encourage the team before giving up his seat: « Now, we can accelerate our learning. We completed 56 laps with Jenson today, so it’s a good way for McLaren and Honda to start their partnership. »

Eric Boulier, McLaren’s racing director, shares the same track as his drivers. « In two weeks, we will be in Malaysia and we will work tirelessly to improve our performance and reliability, be 100% certain of that. »

Building on the momentum of pre-season winter testing, the start of the collaboration between McLaren and Honda is proving to be difficult as expected. The aggressive design of the MP4-30 seems at odds with the still weak performance of the Honda engine.