Button critical of McLaren's repeat Q1 errors

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Jenson Button says McLaren keeps making errors with its timing in Q1 after he was eliminated in the first part of qualifying for the United States Grand Prix.

Both McLaren drivers were in the top ten during Friday practice, and continued that form in FP3 to suggest a Q3 challenge could be possible in Austin. However, Button was knocked out in the first part of qualifying after he hit traffic on his final attempt on supersoft tyres, and while he was critical of Jolyon Palmer for being on the racing line at the final corner, Button admits it was a problem of McLaren's own making.

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“We were 8^th yesterday and 9^th this morning, the pace was good, but we messed up with the timing in Q1 – it’s not the first time this happens – and I had four cars to overtake in the last sector," Button said.

"The last one, saw me really late and stayed on the racing line, so I had to out-brake him into the last corner and there it’s so important to brake late and carry speed into the corner, but you can’t do that if you’re off line. And you don't know what the other car is doing, because he was weaving around, so…

"It’s disappointing and it’s the kind of thing we shouldn’t be making mistakes in, got a Renault on the way again, as it has happened in the last couple of races… It doesn’t mater what they see, this is what they’ve done today and I hope they get a penalty for it!"

Button also explained McLaren felt it had enough pace to get through using soft tyres, but the plan backfired and left him needing the second attempt to try and progress.

"We first went out with the soft tyre because we thought we had enough pace to get through to Q2 with it, and I think we did, but there was a lot of traffic on that lap too. We got the timing wrong for sure, we had done the same in Malaysia, and I got four cars to pass in the last sector.

"I was doing my timed lap when other people were doing their out lap and we’ve got to stop doing that! The last one didn’t move out of the way and that’s a crucial sector. It was hurting the tyres too. Tough, there’s not much else to say.

"Hopefully we can fight back, but trying to overtake around here is nearly impossible for us, so it’s going to be a tough day tomorrow. I was 8^th yesterday, 9^th this morning and now I’m 19^th, so something is not right.”

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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.