Jenson Button says “I could not get the tyres to work” in qualifying, as the McLaren-Honda driver prepares to start this afternoon's Mexican Grand Prix from 13th on the grid.
Button will line up one row behind team-mate Fernando Alonso, after the Woking-based outfit failed to place any car in Q3 for the second consecutive weekend after Austin.
Although the 2009 world champion has been annoyed with tyre management, he is at least satisfied to have a free choice of compound for the 71-lap race.
“I just couldn’t get the tyres to work on the first sector, but the other sectors were good,” Button said. “Realistically I think 11th and 12th was as good as it was going to get and I think that would have been perfect for the race.
“But 11th and 13th isn’t too bad, we’re both on the clean side of the track and we can chose our tyre strategy, because it’s going to be tricky. I think we’re OK.
“It’s tricky to get the balance between pushing at the start of the lap or save them for the end and I didn’t get that balance well.
“I don’t think we’re ever going to understand these tyres, this is a very low downforce circuit because of the altitude but still I don’t think anyone understands how they work…”
Despite his frustration, Button is confident McLaren-Honda can utilise its freedom in tyre strategy to recover to the top 10 this afternoon.
“Hopefully our race pace is better. It’s very tricky for everyone with such low grip. I didn’t have a good lap [in qualifying], but starting from the outside of the top ten is a good thing as we can chose our race strategies.
“It’s worse to start ninth or 10th with the supersoft tyres for the start, as they’ve been lasting four or five laps on the stints.
“I would be surprised if many people outside the top ten will be starting on the supersofts. I think we’re in a good position for the race and I think we’re going to score points.”
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