McLaren-Honda's Jenson Button says having “a very good start” helped pave the way for him to secure eighth place at the German Grand Prix.
Lining up 12th on the Hockenheim grid, Button was already ninth by the end of the opening lap. The 2009 world champion admits that further progress was made difficult by having to save a lot of fuel and nurse his high-degradation tyres.
“It was a very a good start actually,” Button said. “I made most of the places there and then it was just looking after tyres. They were degrading a lot quicker than I expected. A lot of fuel save as well.
“I went off the circuit as well towards the end because I was doing so much fuel save. I hit the brakes and they were just stone cold because I had not been breaking hard.
“There was a lot of work with the brake bias and engine braking to solve the issue but in the end I was able to pick up the Williams that was struggling with the tyres.”
Button managed to overhaul Valtteri Bottas , whose two-stop strategy had left the Finn losing massive chunks of time on 32-lap old soft tyres, on the penultimate lap.
“It was as good as it was going to get this weekend,” the 36-year-old added. “We were 20 seconds behind the car in front [Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg] so I don’t think it’s too bad a result.
McLaren-Honda has now closed the gap to sixth-placed Toro Rosso to just three points in the Constructor’s championship. Button is confident the British team and Japanese manufacturer’s relentless efforts in terms of development will pay further dividends after the summer break.
“There is good progress, we are consistently fighting in the points in sixth, seventh, and eighth. It’s getting there. It’s just nowhere near as quick as you would hope but the team are doing a fabulous job, they really are, bringing something new at every race. I bet there is no other team like that.”
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