McLaren driver Jenson Button was aggrieved to not have scored points at the Singapore Grand Prix, but the race appeared to show progress for the ailing team, even if reliability concerns had put an end to their points scoring ambitions. “We should have scored points today, and we would have scored points if I hadn’t had contact with Pastor [Maldonado] and we hadn’t had gearbox problems. There are lots of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’, but the car felt alright to drive, which is a positive.”
The 2009 World Champion felt that his team’s strategy had brought him into play, despite a troublesome opening stint, where he struggled to keep up with the Saubers, who got the jump on him at the start and finished with a horrific pit stop that lost him almost 40 seconds under Virtual Safety Car conditions.
“We went very long on our stops, and I was able to look after the tyres, which is always helpful, and the second Safety Car helped us.”
McLaren have been enduring a testing season in 2015, both metaphorically and literally, but the Brit insists that there will be no let-up from neither McLaren, nor its engine partner Honda, even if future races don’t appear to be as optimistic as Singapore.
“It’s been a tough season. Everyone is feeling it, but it’s not slowing us down in terms of how much effort everyone is putting in, both in Woking and Sakura. So the team will now get their heads down and focus on the next race, in Japan. It’s Honda’s home circuit, but it’ll be another tough weekend.”
The 15 time race winner echoed a sentiment felt by his McLaren team, and himself, over the course of the season, indicative of the uncertain times surrounding the team and offering little comfort to the onlookers watching from afar.
“We’ll do our best.”
