Jenson Button says F1 Mexican GP was "painful" for McLaren
Jenson Button has described his Mexican Grand Prix as "painful" as he ended a tough weekend for the McLaren Formula 1 team with 14th place in the race
Button had missed qualifying on Saturday due to a misfire and had a 70-place grid penalty after a number of engine changes during the weekend.
His McLaren lacked the speed to make progress during the race, with only the two Manor cars finishing behind the British driver.
Asked to sum up his race, Button said: "Painful, I think, is the word.
"I was on the harder tyre at the start but still it was just waving goodbye to everyone in front really.
"The straightline speed that [other cars] have is just phenomenal.
"We're still doing 345 [km/h] on the straight but they're 20 km/h quicker than us so when they have DRS and they have full deployment they're pulling 45 km/h quicker than us.
"It's a massive difference in speed and I couldn't hold people behind me even if I was in front of them - not that I was very often, unless they were pitting or lapping me."
Button said he believed Honda had lost out more than its rivals from the high altitude of the Mexico City circuit.
"We've lost more power here than most with the altitude for some reason," he said.
"I don't know why; normally you'd think it would bring everyone closer together but it really hurt us here."
ALONSO TOOK START 'FOR THE FANS'
Button's team-mate Fernando Alonso retired at the end of lap one after the team discovered a problem with his engine on Saturday night, which was confirmed on the morning of the race.
With no time to fix the issue, Alonso said he and the team opted to start the race out of respect for the large Mexican crowds.
"We had two possibilities, retire the car without even starting the race or try our maximum, knowing that maybe one or two laps was the maximum we could achieve," he said.
"We did one lap, for respect of the fans because they were amazing all weekend.
"It's frustrating not even participating. Even if you are last at least you are on the track."
Previous article
How Mexico is forcing teams to innovate
Next article
Honda "very keen" to supply Red Bull with F1 engines - Horner
About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Drivers | Jenson Button |
| Teams | McLaren |
| Author | Peter Allen |
Why McLaren doesn’t doubt Ricciardo can escape his ‘dark’ place
Three points finishes from as many starts represents a decent opening innings on paper, but Daniel Ricciardo has endured a tough start to his McLaren career - only magnified his team-mate's excellent form. Yet both he and the team have good reason to expect a turnaround soon
What needs to “change” for Red Bull is ending Verstappen’s errors
OPINION: Going up against the dominant force of Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton was always going to demand the best from Red Bull and Max Verstappen. But after making a couple more errors during the Portuguese Grand Prix, the Dutch driver showed there's a small gap he still needs to close in the 2021 Formula 1 title fight
The "subtle" Red Bull upgrades that kept it in the Portugal F1 mix
Red Bull's Portuguese Grand Prix fortunes were decidedly second best to Mercedes', but the result skews the potential that the team had at Portimao. With a new set of updates, the team looks good going forward into the rest of 2021's spicy F1 competition
Portuguese Grand Prix Driver Ratings
The 2021 Portuguese GP will for several drivers go down as a weekend of missed opportunities amid imperfect track conditions that caused struggles with tyre warmup. But the performances of a select few stood out from the crowd
How Hamilton took a “completely different journey” to Portugal victory
Just as he did in 2020, Lewis Hamilton had to come from behind to win the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix. Only this time there were two rivals he had to pass, among the several challenges he had to overcome, on his way to securing a 97th grand prix victory
The ‘big fish’ mentality that kept an Australian legend winning
Frank Gardner was the veteran of just eight grand prix starts. It could have been more, but why waste his talent if the cars weren't up to it? NIGEL ROEBUCK recalls the life of one of racing's great characters
Why Todt’s FIA successor could be cut from the same cloth
Jean Todt has signalled that he will not stand for re-election as FIA president. MARK GALLAGHER analyses the strong credentials of one potential successor…
The data that leaves both Red Bull and Mercedes uncertain of supremacy at Portimao
Lewis Hamilton topped the crucial FP2 session on Friday as F1 returned to Portugal, but his Mercedes team cannot be sure it has the edge on its Red Bull rivals. As cool temperatures and wind combine with the still-slippery surface to present drivers with quandaries over set-up and tyre warmup, there's still everything to play for come qualifying
