After being on the cusp of the top ten yesterday in qualifying, Jenson Button had an opposing day today as he failed to complete his second Canadian Grand Prix in a row.
It was a disappointment for McLaren, as they have made promising progress over the last few race weekends.
The Canadian Grand Prix was a race to forget for both McLaren drivers as Fernando Alonso also struggled with pace as he tried to complete a one-stop strategy.
This saw the Spaniard struggling for pace in the closing stages and being easily overtaken by those who had pitted for fresher rubber towards the end of the race.
Button’s race, contrary to his teammates, lasted around five or six laps as his car failed and he lost power instantly coming out of the hairpin. He pulled his car over to the side of the track and brought out the sole VSC of the race.
Button, who had been fuel saving already in preparation for the end of the race, was very disappointed to be leaving the race early.
“I radioed in to say I had a terminal problem,” Button explained, talking to the media whilst the race continued without him. “I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw a lot of smoke and sparks. I had no warning – the car just failed as I came out of the hairpin. The engine was still running, but I turned it off anyway.
“It’s a shame, since I was saving a lot of fuel at the time, and I had DRS on every lap too, so I could save even more fuel. That could have made a massive difference later in the race. It’s so often the way, though, isn’t it? You save a lot of fuel for later in the race, but it doesn’t last…”
This was the second engine failure Button encountered this weekend as his Friday running was plagued by an unexplainable oil leak. McLaren had returned Button to his Monaco spec engine for Saturday and the race, meaning that it was a used engine going back into the Briton’s car. The positive of this is that Button has not lost a new engine, but an old one, so he should not encounter any penalties next race out in Baku.
