F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Traffic masked McLaren’s 'good pace' - Button

Jenson Button believes McLaren-Honda had “good pace” at the Mexican Grand Prix but could not show it after he and team-mate Fernando Alonso spent their first stints stuck in traffic.

Starting from 13th on the grid, the 2009 world champion had a rather uneventful race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, only using his one-stop strategy to leapfrog the two-stopping Alonso and cross the line in 12th.

“The problem for us, and for everybody, I think, was that you couldn’t overtake,” Button said. “We lost so much time in the first 20 or 30 laps, I was stuck behind Fernando and then behind Carlos [Sainz] and also Magnussen, plus Palmer, close to the end. Eventually I managed to pass them all, which was all we could have done.

“The actual pace was good, I had fun out there with some pretty little fights, I did some overtaking. You wouldn’t think it would be difficult to overtake with such a long straight, but out of the last corner you can’t stay close.

“Once I passed them all I could show my pace, but had already lost so much time compared to the people who had stopped in lap one. It was a pity, but I definitively got the best out of what I had. I enjoyed it but I would have liked it to have these battles further up the grid.”

With the Safety Car out on the opening lap following a first-corner melee involving Manor’s Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson and Haas’ Esteban Gutierrez, several drivers elected to pit straight away.

Button says McLaren-Honda contemplated following a similar strategy.

“We could have stopped on Lap 1, but we were in 12th or 13th position, which were not great but not too bad either, so we couldn’t take a gamble. The guys at the gap took a gamble, as they had nothing to lose, but it was too much of a gamble for us.”

2016 Mexican Grand Prix - Driver ratings

REPORT: Hamilton keeps title hopes alive with Mexico win

Breakfast with Stefan Johansson 15 minutes with ... Nico Rosberg

Silbermann says ... Masked in Mexico

2017 driver line-ups so far

Julien Billiotte

Recent Posts

Sebastian Montoya steps up to Formula 2 with Prema

Sebastian Montoya, the 19-year-old son of former Formula 1 star Juan Pablo Montoya, is set…

9 hours ago

Sauber finds its ‘Northern Star’ under Binotto’s leadership

When former Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto took on the role of Chief Operating Officer…

11 hours ago

Leclerc hails a season ‘without missed opportunities' in 2024

Charles Leclerc concluded the 2024 F1 season with a sense of satisfaction, the Ferrari driver…

12 hours ago

Coulthard sounds alarm over FIA president’s rift with F1 drivers

Former Formula 1 driver David Coulthard has voiced his dismay at FIA president Mohammed Ben…

14 hours ago

The rapid rise and fall of Super Aguri in F1

Super Aguri's application to join Formula 1 became a reality on this day in 2005,…

15 hours ago

Ferrari's 2024 Season: Marked improvement and a fight to the finish

Ferrari roared back into contention in 2024 to deliver their strongest season in years, thanks…

16 hours ago