Jenson Button believes McLaren is ‘not quick enough’ yet to fight at the front of the grid.
The Briton finished yesterday’s Chinese Grand Prix in fifth, giving himself and McLaren their strongest finish after a troubled start to the season. Despite this, the 2009 world champion believes the upgrades that the team bought to Shanghai had not quite worked and it was a ‘clever’ two-stop strategy rather than outright pace that netted him a valuable 10 points.
"I'm very happy to have finished fifth today - and the team should be too,” said Button after the race.
“It [the race] was always going to be tricky: we weren't quick enough to adopt the same strategy as the others, so we had to run longer than the rest and make two pitstops, rather than three.
For us, a two-stopper was the fastest way to the end of the race. It meant I had to let others past me and protect the tyres.”
Button also likened the strategy of not racing faster cars to the LMP1 and LMP2 categories in sportscar racing.
"It's really tough because in a way it's a little bit like Le Mans when you're in an LMP2 car and the LMP1 cars are coming up behind you," said Button. "The cars were so much quicker than me and there was no point racing because it would have destroyed our strategy. One lock-up, one trip over the marbles and the tires would have been gone so our strategy wouldn't have worked and it was a very tight strategy.”
“We had to be careful, we had to be clever and intelligent and I think as a team we did that today,” he continued.
Despite the pace deficit to its rivals, Button believes McLaren should be happy with their performance in Shanghai as the team have identified further issues on their difficult MP4/28 car and he went on to praise the team’s decision to adopt the alternative two-stop strategy.
"[So] it was a tricky race but we should be very happy with what we did. To come away P5 with ten points; we wouldn't have done that if we had done the same strategy as everyone else.
We're not quick enough, so we take away positives but also we know that we're not quick enough and we need to improve,” he concluded.
Button and McLaren lie eighth and fifth in their respective drivers and constructor’s championships.
The Briton finished yesterday’s Chinese Grand Prix in fifth, giving himself and McLaren their strongest finish after a troubled start to the season. Despite this, the 2009 world champion believes the upgrades that the team bought to Shanghai had not quite worked and it was a ‘clever’ two-stop strategy rather than outright pace that netted him a valuable 10 points.
"I'm very happy to have finished fifth today - and the team should be too,” said Button after the race.
“It [the race] was always going to be tricky: we weren't quick enough to adopt the same strategy as the others, so we had to run longer than the rest and make two pitstops, rather than three.
For us, a two-stopper was the fastest way to the end of the race. It meant I had to let others past me and protect the tyres.”
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| Jenson Button, McLaren MP4-28. (Photo: WRi2) |
Button also likened the strategy of not racing faster cars to the LMP1 and LMP2 categories in sportscar racing.
"It's really tough because in a way it's a little bit like Le Mans when you're in an LMP2 car and the LMP1 cars are coming up behind you," said Button. "The cars were so much quicker than me and there was no point racing because it would have destroyed our strategy. One lock-up, one trip over the marbles and the tires would have been gone so our strategy wouldn't have worked and it was a very tight strategy.”
“We had to be careful, we had to be clever and intelligent and I think as a team we did that today,” he continued.
Despite the pace deficit to its rivals, Button believes McLaren should be happy with their performance in Shanghai as the team have identified further issues on their difficult MP4/28 car and he went on to praise the team’s decision to adopt the alternative two-stop strategy.
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| Photo: McLaren |
"[So] it was a tricky race but we should be very happy with what we did. To come away P5 with ten points; we wouldn't have done that if we had done the same strategy as everyone else.
We're not quick enough, so we take away positives but also we know that we're not quick enough and we need to improve,” he concluded.
Button and McLaren lie eighth and fifth in their respective drivers and constructor’s championships.