McLaren's Jenson Button confident of catching Red Bull: Formula One news
McLaren-Mercedes driver Jenson Button, who is currently second in the drivers' championship, has claimed that his team are moving in the right direction since the start of the 2011 Formula One season in Australia. The British team finished on the podium
twice in as many races, but were unable to win any of the races.
Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel has won the first two races of the season this year and he will be looking to add one more victory to his tally. However, McLaren have planned some upgrades to their car for the Chinese Grand Prix, which will take place on
Sunday, 17th April.
Button stated, “In terms of fine-tuning the car, hopefully we will get a bit closer this weekend. When we were testing in Malaysia we were making changes and it was making a massive difference in terms of lap time and consistency.”
The British driver further added, “We have some updates here. I don't know if Red Bull Racing has, it is difficult to know, but I think you will also see a couple of other teams quick here. The Ferrari is going to be competitive here and the Renault will
be, as it has very good straight line speed.”
The Vodafone sponsored team will revise the floor and exhaust system of their car, heading to China. Button expects his team to be stronger in the upcoming race, as there will be lesser tyre wear. The track temperature in Shanghai will be cooler compared
to what the drivers witnessed in Malaysia, making it easier for the teams to develop a strategy.
Although the McLaren driver was confident of putting up a good performance in China, he admitted that reigning champion Sebastian Vettel was very quick. The Brit claimed that he would look to challenge the German from the start of the race, exerting as much
pressure as possible.
One thing that could halt Red Bull's progress could be their issues with the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS). The champion team managed to get their power boost system working ahead of the Malaysian GP, but might not be able to use it in China.
This will give McLaren and Ferrari an opportunity to qualify in a better position on the grid and have better results in the race eventually.
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