Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

McLaren on verge of ‘something very special’ - Button

Jenson Button says McLaren is expecting a tough start to the 2015 season but is motivated by the fact that “there could be something very special on the horizon”.

McLaren’s new partnership with Honda as power unit supplier endured a tough pre-season as reliability issues resulted in the MP4-30 completing very limited mileage. Button admits the problems are likely to make the start of the season difficult, but he says McLaren is “unbelievably excited” about the team’s potential.

“Yes I do know it’s going to be a tough start but it’s also very different,” Button said. “The last two years have not been the easiest seasons for us, but I think the difference with this year is the understanding that there could be something very special on the horizon with McLaren Honda.

“With the new partnership I think the whole team is unbelievably excited about what could happen in the future, but we also understand that there’s a lot of work needed before we even start thinking too much about winning races, even podiums and fighting for the world championship.”

And Button admits McLaren may have to take a more long-term approach to this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix rather than chase a headline result in Melbourne.

“For us we want to win races and scraping in to the points here doesn't interest us whatsoever. It’s the future of this team which is interesting and we’ll always go out to do our best because we’re here to race and do the best we can but also the better we do the more experience we gain of how the car is and try to maximise the package we have.

“I think the important thing for us is seeing big gains throughout the year. It’s not being consistently in the points, it’s seeing big gains and hopefully fighting for victories. It’s always going to be very difficult in a season where Mercedes starts so strong; at the moment you would say you can’t really see anyone else winning races for the flyaways, so it’s always going to be tricky but I think you’ll see big gains from us throughout the year, which is exciting.”

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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.