Jenson Button says the gap to Fernando Alonso in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix is due to a tow he gave to his team-mate.
Alonso starts from tenth for today's race while Button dropped out in Q2 and will line up a row further back in 12th. The two drivers were closely matched through the first two sectors at the end of Q2 - with Button running ahead on track - but Alonso improved more in the final sector and Button says it was due to a slipstream advantage.
“At the end of Q2 I didn’t get a tow on the back straight but Fernando got one out of me…" Button said. "Up to the last sector the lap was looking good for P10 but then I didn’t get it in the last straight.
"I locked up in every lap going into the hairpin, so it was in the straight I lost out to Fernando, as he got a very good tow off me. I think he got 0.2s on the last sector, I never thought a tow would make such a big difference, but it did.
"Anyway, I’m starting with new tyres and will make the best out of it if it’s dry. If it’s wet we should be alright. Tenth or 12th doesn’t make a lot of difference, especially if it rains."
And Button says his team-mate's pace is a realistic indication of how competitive McLaren is this season.
"I think we are more or less where Fernando is, in tenth place. We always look a bit quicker than we are in practice but the others turn their engines more in qualifying, so that’s basically where we are, it’s what we’ve been in the last few races. We’re always looking for improvements and it may look like we haven’t made any improvements but this is a circuit where no one was expecting us to perform at the same level as in Monaco but we are.
"The target is to get within the points if it’s dry. If it’s wet, who knows? As we’ve seen in Monaco it can really mix it up, the tyres are very difficult to get to work, just as much for us as for the others, but in terms of strategy we’re very good, so let’s see what we can do."
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