Jenson Button says McLaren struggled with tyre management in 2012 – Formula 1 news
McLaren driver Jenson Button has said that they struggled in the 2012 Formula 1 season because they failed to manage their tyres well.
Button performed convincingly well in this season, but unfortunately he could not score points with consistency as he struggled with some technical and tyre management issues.
Although, the Woking based team had the most successful pre-season testing programme this year, however, they could not carry on the essential developments in their car and encountered with some huge reliability issues which hindered the performance of the
2009 world champion and his teammate, Lewis Hamilton.
“We tried new things because I struggled to get tyre temperature more than most, and it didn't work, it just destroyed the tyres around Monaco and Canada time,” Button said.
It will be important to mention that Hamilton scored points with impressive consistency during the start of the season and was considered as one of the strongest title contenders. However, he lost some crucial points in the championship fight because of
his retirement in few races due to some reliability issues which eventually gave his hopes to win the title away.
“Lewis had a good race in Canada and I had such a bad race, and it was good for the rest of the year in a way because we had the two extremes so we could look at the data, get in simulator, change balance around, and work out why I had so much degradation
and he didn't. It was really useful to learn what you can and cannot do with the tyres,” Button added.
Furthermore, it is to be noted that the 27-year-old is going to leave the British squad at the end of this year and has planned to join Mercedes in the coming season where he will replace Michael Schumacher who has taken retirement from the sport.
On the other hand, McLaren has signed a new multi-year deal with Sergio Perez who will driver alongside Button from the next season onwards.
Presently, the British team is working hard to develop a competent car and it will be exciting to see how they show up in the coming year.
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