Upgrades were not good enough according to a disgruntled Button.
Jenson Button admitted that his McLaren team’s package of upgrades for his struggling car were ‘nowhere near enough’ to revitalise their performances after he qualified only 14th for Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix.
The 33-year-old Briton, who won the world title in 2009, was clearly disappointed at failing to make the cut into the top ten shootout, a flop that signalled his poor season appears to be going nowhere.
His McLaren team-mate, Mexican rookie Sergio Perez, qualified ninth.
“The tyre pressures were massively high, so I don’t know if something was wrong or if they were set wrong, but we’re looking into it now,” Button moaned before launching into an attack on the team’s upgrade package.
“They’re making a little bit of a difference but nowhere near enough to really challenge up the front,” he explained.
“And everyone has got new parts so it makes it very tricky for us to catch up. The only good thing is the car with Sergio in it has shown we have made some progress, which is what we need and we need to build upon that.”
Perez admitted: “To be in Q3 with such a difficult car makes me feel ok. As a driver in a winning team like McLaren you want to be at the front. But in the end you have to be happy when you maximise everything.”
McLaren ended the 2012 season on a high with one of the most successful cars producing front-running speed and a spate of victories, but a decision to go into 2013 with a completely new car has let them down.
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