Jenson Button expects the upgrades McLaren brought to Hockenheim to bring more gains to the car at Hungary than the gains made at Hockenheim.
The McLaren duo of Button and Kevin Magnussen finished 8th and 9th respectively in Hockenheim, with Magnuseen unable to fully capitalise on his equalled best grid start after a major first-corner incident on the opening lap with Felipe Massa pushing him down the field while Button felt his chances of a better result were hampered by strategy.
In a post-friday practice interview with Formula 1’s official website, Button, who finished 9th in second practice, is confident that his team added performance to the car last weekend, with a lot more to come this weekend.
“It was definitely a move forward and it should also help us here. Actually it should benefit us here more than in Germany as it is more of a high-downforce package. And in some ways it did – on the soft tyres and high fuel.” Button said.
Along with disagreeing with Massa’s recent criticism of the young drivers on the grid, particularly pf his team-mate Magnussen, the two-time winner at Hungary insists Mercedes and Red Bull are out of reach but believes judging from form in free practice that Williams are a more realistic possibility.
“When I look at the time sheet I find it impossible to say where we stand.” added Button.
“We are sure not up to the speed of the Mercedes and Red Bull, but from today’s experience we should be in the range of the Williams – and they had a podium in Germany.”
