Jenson Button: Better start wouldn't have improved result

The McLaren man could not recapture the blistering form that helped him to victory in Japan seven days earlier as he struggled with significant understeer from the beginning of the race.

And while he lost several places after running wide on the exit of Turn 4, on the opening lap, he admitted that it was that understeer that made it impossible for him to catch the leaders later in the race.

"My biggest problem was that I didn't have any front grip," he said afterwards. "We were putting a lot of 'front-end' in the car throughout the race by adjusting the front wing during the pitstops, but still I really struggled in the last sector.

"I just couldn't get close enough to the cars in front to use the DRS, and when you are out of the DRS zone it's really tricky because the car in front, if he is using DRS, is gaining half a second on you. So to make that time up around the rest of the lap to try and get at the DRS is pretty tricky.

"Towards the end of the stints the pace was okay but I just couldn't get close enough in the last sector to use the DRS," he added. "I think I used it once in the whole race, so not perfect, but if this is a bad day, it's not so bad."

Button admitted afterwards that he had not seen Felipe Massa coming on the opening lap as he was caught out by the Ferrari driver at Turn 3, which resulted in the Briton dropping to eighth after starting third on the grid.

"The start was alright," he said. "I thought Mark [Webber] was behind me down into Turn 3, I don't know where Massa was, and I braked where I felt it was correct to brake, turned in and there was a car there - I couldn't see him at all before I actually turned in.

"Then I was stuck on the outside and lost a lot of places. But I don't think not having a bad start would have changed my race, I just wasn't quick enough today."