Having not sat in a Formula 1 car for seven months, Jenson Button claims everything felt ‘natural’ as he settled into the 2017 McLaren on Thursday practice in Monaco.
Deputising for Fernando Alonso, who is attempting the Indy 500 in the USA, Button enjoyed sampling his first experience of 2017 machinery but insisted he didn’t miss being in the car albeit thoroughly enjoying his experience in both sessions.
Button said: “As soon as I exited the pits, everything felt very natural. The weirdest thing is when you’re behind a car or when you let a car past because you look at it and it’s gigantic.
“Then you feel really uncomfortable because you think, maybe I am too close to the barriers. But the car fits well; it fits like a glove.
“It was funny when I did the install lap this morning, I had a little giggle to myself. Have I missed it? No, but when you jump in the car, you definitely enjoy the moments that you have.
“I’ve really enjoyed practice, both the long and short runs.”
With the 2017 cars giving the drivers so much more grip through mechanical and aerodynamic grip thanks to the new regulations, Button admits it has caught him out but is sure that he can go quicker as the weekend progresses as he adjusts to the new speeds.
Button added “FP2 was a bit of a struggle to really find my feet with the car.
“I’m braking so much later than what I’m used to here and carrying so much speed into the corners.
“Adjusting to that takes time, so with another day with the engineers and a look through the data, I’m confident that I can improve.”
Knowing it is a one-off appearance for this season, the 2009 world champion has yet to give any thought as to where he could finish in Sunday’s race, however, he is being realistic to the challenge facing him and the team.
“I haven’t really thought about where I hope to finish. It’s a very mixed-up grid at the moment which I’m sure will all change again on Saturday,” added Button.
“I don’t expect to be one tenth off the Mercedes cars in qualifying, but the guys understand where I’m coming from.
“They know what they need to do to improve the car to suit me a little bit more and to give me a little bit more confidence.
“Hopefully we’ll see a step in performance on Saturday.”
