Jenson Button happy with McLaren’s progress ahead of Monaco GP – Formula 1 news
McLaren’s Jenson Button is pleased with the progress of his team, but believes that qualifying will be the most important factor in Monaco, which is not the strength of his car at the moment.
After completing the Thursday practice sessions, the Briton said, “The pace on the long run is surprisingly good. Not that that matters much around here when you're 1.2 seconds off the pace in qualifying. The problem is around here you have to qualify well,
and that's our weakness at the moment. We just can't get the temperature in the tyre for lap one.”
Unlike most of the other teams, McLaren made some major changes to the overall design of the car in order to dominate rivals in terms of development speed. However, this decision has backfired, as the British squad has been unable to match the front runners
in the opening five rounds of the season.
As a result, top teams such as Red Bull, Ferrari, Lotus and Mercedes are running away in the Constructor’s Championship whereas McLaren has been unable to perform better than a team like Force-India, which is fifth in the standings right now.
Despite all the trouble, Button is confident of his chances in the upcoming event and said, “I'm happier with the car here than in the last few races. There are some positives with areas that we've struggled in before, but seem a bit better. Because Monaco's
such a different race, you change the car quite a bit, and it seems to be working a little bit better.”
If McLaren are good enough to qualify in the top-six, they will really have a chance of finishing on the podium in Monaco. However, there is still a long way to go for the Woking based squad and they should set realistic goals for themselves.
Single lap pace will be an important factor on the streets of Monte Carlo, which will put some of the top teams like Mercedes and Ferrari in a strong position. On the other hand, Red Bull and Lotus are also not far behind in terms of qualifying pace, but
they will have to be at their best to lock the front row of the grid.
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