Whilst the future of Jenson Button in Formula One remains mysterious, the Honda power unit continued to show considerable lack of performance in comparison to the competitors.
Button reflected on his race where he was easily passed by other cars as a result of the low power:
“When there’s that much of a speed differential between our car and the others’, you don’t know what to do. When they overtake you, you just back out of it – there’s such a difference in speed, that you can’t be sure where they’re going to be.
The 2009 World Champion believed a better result was possible but for being hindered by the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson:
“At my second stop, Ericsson got past me, and that messed up my race because I was quicker and had the better tyre – I was on the Option, he was on the Prime – for the final stint. If I’d come out ahead of him, we’d have been fine, because we were quicker than him, and he was holding cars up behind, which helped Fernando to run his own race. But I couldn’t keep the faster cars behind me, and fell farther back.
In summary, Button stated: “It’s been a tough weekend in front of the whole of Honda and all the fans we have here; and that’s tough, because we want to succeed in front of them.”
After the race, McLaren Group CEO Ron Dennis told Sky Sports F1 that Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button will race for the team in 2016. McLaren had the option to terminate the British driver’s contract, but Dennis has told Button earlier in the week they the team wanted him to remain at McLaren.
