Button wonders if McLaren will score this year
BARCELONA: Jenson Button questioned whether struggling McLaren would score any points this season after a Spanish Grand Prix he ranked among the scariest of his Formula One career.
McLaren have started their new Honda engine partnership without a point in five races, making it the worst start to a season for the sport’s second most successful team after Ferrari.
“I don’t think I expect points at all this year,” 2009 world champion Button said with a nervous laugh after finishing 16th and being lapped at the Circuit de Catalunya.
His Spanish teammate Fernando Alonso retired before the halfway mark with brake problems.
Button, who had qualified 14th, made clear that just getting to the finish had been an achievement yesterday.
“It was pretty scary to drive. Every time I touched the throttle, it just snapped. I am sure there is something wrong there,” he said.
“It didn’t feel right. It was like flicking a switch in the race. Not the easiest, and it was (like that) from the word go,” he added.
“The first 30 laps… were the scariest laps of my life.”
Alonso said his car’s brakes had failed on the lap before he was due to pit. The team said Alonso’s stop had been a precautionary one to examine the rear of the car, and mechanics had subsequently found a visor tear-off strip covering the right-rear brake duct.
The Spaniard still put on a brave face: “Things are coming together. We’re still a long way off the front and need to take bigger steps,” he said. “This has been a disappointing day, but the team will investigate what happened, and we’ll come back stronger in Monaco.”
McLaren, eight times winners of the Spanish Grand Prix, have not won a race since 2012. – Reuters