Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

Button sees the funny side of 25-place penalty

Jenson Button could see the funny side of his predicament at the Austrian Grand Prix this weekend after being hit with a 25-place grid penalty.

McLaren has struggled with reliability issues throughout 2015 so far and as a result Button took a new internal combustion engine (ICE), turbocharger, MGU-H and MGU-K at the Red Bull Ring. With the resulting penalties seeing him penalised 25 places on the grid, Button joins team-mate Fernando Alonso in starting from the back row as the Spaniard also has a 25-place penalty.

When asked how the atmosphere is inside McLaren, Button replied: "Better than expected, I think there’s still a pretty good vibe.

"I think you have to have a smile on your face still when you see a 25-place penalty, it does make you smile when there’s only 20 cars in the grid."

Despite knowing qualifying was almost certain to have no impact on the penalty he will receive in the race, Button still enjoyed Q1 as he sat top of the times for a spell on a drying track.

"It was a lot of fun actually, when the circuit is tricky and unpredictable. It felt good out there. I went fastest and then I was P2, P2, P6, always in the top ten. But when the circuit is dry and people have found their feet, it’s pretty much what the car can do.

"Those conditions are always good fun because it’s just not about the car you’re driving and the performance that it gives out there. You have to find your own feet and your way."

Click here for the gallery of the Formula Una girls at the Austrian Grand Prix

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.