McLaren’s Jenson Button has tipped Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel for victory in the Chinese Grand Prix.
The two drivers will line up eighth and ninth as they elected to sacrifice grid position to save their more durable medium compound tyres, whilst their immediate rivals will start on the softer compound which is expected to last around four to six laps.
"We have a very fast car next to us [Vettel]. He is starting just behind me on slightly newer tyres,” said Button to the BBC.
“"He is the guy who is really going to challenge at the front for the win."
Whilst Button ruled himself and McLaren out of contention for outright victory tomorrow, the 2009 world champion is pleased with the team’s improved performance this weekend.
“I think we should be very happy with our qualifying performance: we don’t really have the pace of the front-running cars yet, but finishing seventh in Q2 was really satisfying,” he said. “[And] to out-qualify both Red Bulls in Q3, and with a two-minute lap, was amazing!
“This was the best we could do with what we have.”
The Briton also expects his and McLaren’s decision to conserve tires to pay off in the race due to the high levels of wear seen during the practice sessions.
“I've looked at a few of the tires of the soft runners and they looked grained,” he commented. “It's going to be cooler so we're going to see the graining we saw yesterday on high fuel.”
"They're going to struggle with that at the start of the race. Hopefully we can get a good start and at some point we should find some clear air in front of us.
“It’s going to be an extremely interesting race.”
Teammate Sergio Perez continued to endure a difficult weekend and will line up 12th behind the Force India of Paul di Resta, but remained confident he can add to his two points for McLaren tomorrow.
“It’s been a difficult weekend so far,” commented the young Mexican. “That was frustrating; the warm-up of my tyres before my quick-lap wasn’t ideal, and I struggled to really pull everything together on the lap.”
“I’ve got a great team behind me and I know they’ll do a fantastic job to give me the best possible strategy for the race tomorrow,” he continued.
“We can definitely do a good job and score some good points.”
The two drivers will line up eighth and ninth as they elected to sacrifice grid position to save their more durable medium compound tyres, whilst their immediate rivals will start on the softer compound which is expected to last around four to six laps.
"We have a very fast car next to us [Vettel]. He is starting just behind me on slightly newer tyres,” said Button to the BBC.
“"He is the guy who is really going to challenge at the front for the win."
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| Jenson Button's money is on Sebastian Vettel (Photo: WRi2) |
Whilst Button ruled himself and McLaren out of contention for outright victory tomorrow, the 2009 world champion is pleased with the team’s improved performance this weekend.
“I think we should be very happy with our qualifying performance: we don’t really have the pace of the front-running cars yet, but finishing seventh in Q2 was really satisfying,” he said. “[And] to out-qualify both Red Bulls in Q3, and with a two-minute lap, was amazing!
“This was the best we could do with what we have.”
The Briton also expects his and McLaren’s decision to conserve tires to pay off in the race due to the high levels of wear seen during the practice sessions.
“I've looked at a few of the tires of the soft runners and they looked grained,” he commented. “It's going to be cooler so we're going to see the graining we saw yesterday on high fuel.”
"They're going to struggle with that at the start of the race. Hopefully we can get a good start and at some point we should find some clear air in front of us.
“It’s going to be an extremely interesting race.”
Teammate Sergio Perez continued to endure a difficult weekend and will line up 12th behind the Force India of Paul di Resta, but remained confident he can add to his two points for McLaren tomorrow.
“It’s been a difficult weekend so far,” commented the young Mexican. “That was frustrating; the warm-up of my tyres before my quick-lap wasn’t ideal, and I struggled to really pull everything together on the lap.”
“I’ve got a great team behind me and I know they’ll do a fantastic job to give me the best possible strategy for the race tomorrow,” he continued.
“We can definitely do a good job and score some good points.”