Button coped with “45kph” deficit in Russian GP

Jenson Button said Honda’s energy deployment woes left him and team-mate Fernando Alonso as “sitting ducks” during the Russian Grand Prix, as the pair sometimes had to cope with a 45kph deficit.

McLaren-Honda had travelled to Sochi with little expectations but saw its two MP4-30s round up the top 10 on the road, although Alonso was then demoted to 11th because of a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits.

While Button made the most of an attrition race to climb to P9 by the chequered flag, the Briton admits he spent the entire afternoon fighting a rearguard action.

“A big thing for us is deployment and fuel saving because we’re not deploying for very long on the straights so you’re using more fuel,” said the 2009 world champion.

“We knew that we would were going to get trounced in the race from Lap 1 really having to fuel save every lap. Even with the two Safety Cars we had to save a lot.

“And cars are overtaking us in places you would not expect. Into Turn 12-13, if I don’t deploy they’re coming at me sort of 40-45kph quicker.

“I haven't got DRS and they have, I haven't got deployment and they have, so it's a massive closing speed.

“It’s really tricky because I’m looking at my mirrors not knowing where [the car behind] is going to end up.”

Button noticed no breakthrough in terms of overall competitiveness, but the 35-year-old took satisfaction from his team sampling an updated power unit – though Alonso retains priority –, adopting an aggressive approach, and eventually maximising everything on race day.

“It is not massive progress in terms of pace but we did a lot of stuff with the set-up this weekend, which will be interesting to see whether that pays off or not. We also have a lot of useful data on the engine.

“If we had a competitive car, we would have been competing at the front because we had the perfect race.

“As a team, we did a good job. We did the best possible.”

Click here for F1i's Russian Grand Prix drivers rating 

Hamilton close to title after Russian GP win

Click here for the F1 drivers' girlfriends gallery

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Julien Billiotte

Recent Posts

Horner: Max 'answered critics' with epic Sao Paulo GP drive

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner hailed Max Verstappen’s sensational Sao Paulo Grand Prix victory…

8 mins ago

Sainz left puzzled by double crash drama in rainy São Paulo

Carlos Sainz was left scratching his head after a disastrous Sunday at the Sao Paulo…

1 hour ago

Alonso pushed through agonizing pain to complete Sao Paulo GP

Fernando Alonso braved both physical agony and mechanical challenges in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix,…

3 hours ago

Alpine double-podium in Brazil could deliver $30 million windfall

Alpine’s remarkable double podium at the São Paulo Grand Prix with Esteban Ocon and Pierre…

17 hours ago

F1i's Driver Ratings for the 2024 São Paulo GP

Alexander Albon, Williams (Did Not Start): 5.5/10 Alex Albon is definitely going through something of…

19 hours ago

Jos Verstappen rips British media after Brazilian Max fest

Jos Verstappen wasted no time after his son spectacular win at the São Paulo Grand…

20 hours ago