A botched qualifying session for Button in Austin
Friday's promise was not followed by action for McLaren-Honda: Jenson Button (19th) got stuck in Q1 traffic. But Q3 was clearly out of reach: Fernando Alonso (12th) was ruthlessly pushed out of the top 10 by Williams and Carlos Sainz...
A truly wronged Jenson Button
Bad Saturday ultimately for the 36-year-old driver, who didn’t mince his words after his premature elimination in Q1. It must be said that his strategy was off the mark, with a first stint on soft tires followed by a mistimed second stint on super-soft tires. The parade of drivers going slowly on their out-lap simply ruined his chances of improvement. This considerably angered the 2009 world champion:
We were eighth and ninth on Friday in FP2, so the pace was good. But we messed up our session again due to bad timing, it’s not the first time actually!
Here, Jenson Button talks about his compatriot Jolyon Palmer. On board his Renault, the latter had to move at the last minute from the ideal racing line to make way for the McLaren. An action that remains a sore point for the former Brawn GP driver:
I had to overtake four cars in the last sector: the last one saw me very late while staying on the racing line, so I had to brake harder than usual in the final corner.
We underestimated the time of our out-lap, it’s annoying because we did the same thing in Malaysia two races ago.
But will the race be a whole different ball game, bringing its share of good emotions? The Briton will attempt to finish in the points for the sixth time this season, despite starting from deep down the rankings. To achieve this, he will need to find an opening…
« I think we had a good rhythm but we messed it all up again – it’s a collective fault in terms of strategy.
Our race pace is good, the problem is that it’s difficult to overtake here.
A blessing in disguise for Fernando Alonso?
For his part, Alonso was happier with the traffic in Q1, managing to build a sufficient safety margin to access Q2. However, despite a more than decent qualifying lap, the double world champion will only start from the 12th position.
We lacked rhythm. But if we had made it to Q3, it could have been a problem with the use of the super-soft tires, which degrade very quickly. So I will have new tires, which will allow me to attack right from the start of the race.
Outpaced by both Williams and Force India, the culprit was easy to find: the power unit and Honda’s deficit compared to the benchmark.
« It’s as if the Mercedes engines received an additional boost to be more competitive, which inevitably makes our life more difficult for us! »
Ten years and one day after his second and last world title, the former Renault driver will be fighting more modestly for a few points in Texas. It will largely depend on the lessons learned in terms of strategy…
« If we want to score some points in the race, we will need to elevate our level and find a smart strategy. »
