McLaren will struggle in Mexico - Button

Jenson Button says McLaren is set for "a very difficult weekend" due to the altitude at the Mexican Grand Prix.

The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City stands 2219 metres above sea level, making it the highest circuit on the F1 calendar. Button - who will take a 50-place grid penalty for engine changes - says Honda's power unit is set to struggle at the high altitude more than its rivals which will make points a struggle.

"As far as I know I do have penalties for the race so hopefully it is the new engine that we’re putting in," Button said. "It’s not a great way to start the weekend but it’s also going to be a very difficult weekend for us anyway because of the altitude. It hurts us because of our compressor, so I think it will hurt us more than other teams.

“Some of [the turbo] but also the compressor. So it’s going to be tricky. It’s obviously low downforce here, we have max downforce pretty much on the car - everyone will have - but because of the air pressure you’re running Monza downforce, if you like. Quick in a straight line, not a lot of air in to the brake ducts, so there’s a lot of unknowns for everyone here. As long as we’re on top of that we might be OK in the race, but in terms of pace I think it’s going to be tricky for us here.”

And Button says points are unlikely for McLaren, leading it to take the power unit penalties ahead of a more competitive race in Brazil.

“We don’t expect to be competitive here, I don’t expect us to be fighting for points. But then we arrive in Brazil which should be a reasonable race again. I think reasonably similar to Austin.”