Jenson Button says just reaching the end of tomorrow's Australian Grand Prix would be a success for McLaren.
The two McLarens were slowest of the cars which set times during qualifying, with Button ahead of team-mate Kevin Magnussen on the back row for tomorrow's race. Having been more than five seconds slower than the Mercedes in qualifying, Button says the focus for McLaren needs to be mileage in order to allow it to improve as quickly as possible.
"As you probably know we haven't done a race distance yet, so it's a challenge for us to achieve that, as it would be for anyone without the experience," Button said.
"As long as we are thinking on our feet throughout the race and trying to solve every problem along the way then we can achieve a race finish, which you might say isn't a lot.
"But for us in terms of experience and learning it's a lot and will help us progress a lot over the next few weeks. It's not going to get easy quickly, but the things worth fighting for are always very tough at the beginning."
Button says he is also prepared for more difficult races in the coming months due to an extremely different approach for McLaren.
"We expected as a team this race would be very difficult, and it won't be the last race that's difficult for us. Today, being on the back row of the grid is never where you want to be when you are in a team that is used to winning grand prix.
"But we knew it would be a tough weekend. We've seen that we've been able to get out of the car is nowhere near enough to challenge near the front. But we also have to remember this is a very new package, and I don't just mean the power unit, but the car itself and the philosophy behind the aerodynamics of the car and the airflow. It's all very new."
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