After taking to the wheel of the new McLaren MP4-31 for the first time in pre-season testing, Jenson Button was hopeful of the improvements but remained cautious as to where McLaren would be in the field this season.
Button completed an impressive 84 laps (third highest of the 2016 cars as Sauber ran an updated car from last season) with no major reliability concerns. This lap count will have given a confidence boost to the team who only managed six laps on the first day of testing last year. The only gremlin today for Button was that some procedures took longer than expected which limited the number of laps they were able to complete.
Speaking to motorsport.com, Button commented on his day: “There were no reliability issues really, just things taking longer than we had hoped with set-up. We hoped for more laps, but all-in-all it was a reasonable day.”
“There are improvements everywhere, and there needed to be. Whether it’s enough, I don’t know yet”, Button continued.
The Briton remained unsure on where McLaren would be in Melbourne. “I think even by the end of this test, it will be difficult [to predict where we are]. We have lots of different improvements coming between now and Melbourne, with the car, with the power unit, so this test is more about getting an understanding of the car.”
