Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

Button calls for more Honda effort on power

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Jenson Button has called for Honda to spend more time trying to find extra power rather than worrying about reliability.

Honda introduced an upgraded power unit at the Belgian Grand Prix having spent three tokens, with a focus on combustion as the power unit manufacturer predicted “a bit step” forward at Spa. While McLaren attempted to play down expectations ahead of the race weekend, Button admitted he was “excited” to try the upgrade.

Honda deployment problem 'embarrassing' - Button

However, the race proved a disappointing one as McLaren was comfortably off the midfield pace and Button was hit by an ERS deployment issue. Having finished 14th on Sunday, Button called for Honda to prioritise competitiveness over reliability.

“I’d rather have more effort on power,” Button said. “I think that’s the aim we have right now – the aim is power – that’s always been the aim. Reliability is second really, because I think we’d like to see ourselves quicker and less reliable – I wouldn’t have an issue with that.

“The performance is something difficult to find, reliability is probably a little bit easier. Everyone is working hard, but this is tough this weekend, not only were we slow but I had the problem.”

Click here for F1i's driver ratings after the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

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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.