Hungarian GP: Jenson Button still sure McLaren has improved

The Briton insists that the team has taken a step forward with its latest wave of upgrades, claiming that the understeer problems that stopped him from fighting for a spot in Q3 are a sign that the car is generating more downforce.

"I hoped for a bit more here," he said.

"We have got some good upgrades here, it's just balancing them that we found a little bit difficult this weekend.

"The thing is, on old tyres, I had a good balance, but on new tyres I can't get enough front end in the car. The front end is a limiting factor, and in a way that's a good thing, because it means we've put downforce on the rear of the car.

"This is just a very unusual circuit. At somewhere like Spa I think you'll see a good improvement in terms of position."

Button added that some of the upgrades the team is working on for future races will be focused on 2014.

"The bits that we have on the car over the next few races are development for 2014," he admitted.

"They're not just throwing things at this year's car, because obviously we care about next year a little bit more."

Button's team-mate Sergio Perez, who qualified 10th, said he was confident in the team's decision to run the medium tyre in Q3.

"At the end we chose the prime, and given the pace we have I think that's not bad," said the Mexican.

"Tomorrow we have the chance to fight for good points, given that we're on a different strategy to everybody else. That has to be the aim, to bring some points home."