Button: Alonso pairing crucial to McLaren progress

Jenson Button says the McLaren driver line-up of himself and Fernando Alonso will prove to crucial in any progress the team makes next season.

McLaren endured a hugely disappointing season with Honda in 2015, with the team ending the year ninth in the constructors' championship with only Manor below it in the standings. With numerous reliability issues magnifying performance problems, Button - who finished ahead of Alonso in the drivers'  championship - says having such an experienced driver pairing has ensured McLaren is moving in the right direction for 2016.

Asked if having a good record against a fellow world champion in the same team was pleasing, Button replied: “That’s not the satisfying bit really, that doesn’t satisfy me, I think next year will be a lot more interesting.

"The bit that I’m happy about is that I feel that I’ve done a good job with what I’ve been given. I think working alongside Fernando has been great. We do learn from each other a lot because we’ve both had such long careers in Formula One; sometimes we’ve been with the same team but it has been at different points in our career.

"So we’ve learned so much on our own and then we come together with all that experience and I think it really helps us. With the limited running we have had this year I think it has really helped this team in terms of a direction for next year.

"So that has been a lot of fun, working with him and listening to what he has to say, and from what he’s said it has been the same with me as well. So it’s exactly the situation we need to be in terms of giving great feedback from two experienced drivers, it’s what’s going to move this team forward the most I think next year.”

The MP4-X: McLaren unveils radical F1 concept car design

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Quotes of the weekend