McLaren's Jenson Button & Sergio Perez say lack of straight-line speed compromised race

McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Sergio Perez were left to bemoan the MP4-28's lack of straight-line speed in the Italian GP after the team's 50th anniversary race yielded just a solitary point.

After being outqualified by Perez for the fifth time this season on Saturday, Button was at least able to take some comfort from beating the Mexican in the race - although he wasn't quite sure why his team-mate delayed his pitstop. "I think in most teams the lead car gets the choice on stops," Button said. "Basically we said we were going to stop on that lap to stay in front of Grosjean and I'm guessing they [Perez's crew] said they didn't want that lap because the lead car always gets choice on stops, that's always the way it's been, and I got the lap. "Initially it was 'Checo's coming in' on the radio 'push hard you're coming in on the next lap' and then 'no, you're coming in on this lap' so I did." Team-mate Perez was powerless to stop both Hamilton and Raikkonen, who pitted later than most for fresher medium tyres, sweeping past him in the closing stages. The 23-year-old echoed his senior team-mate's regret over the MP4-28's top-end gearing. "Very disappointed, I think we deserved much more than that. We were held up by Ricciardo in the race but our straight-line was pretty poor so I couldn't get past him," Perez told Sky F1. "We stopped a lap late, the pitstop didn't go so well, so I lost a position to Jenson and from then on it was just a train of cars. Without the straightline [speed] I couldn't get past anyone and the people behind like Kimi and Lewis they just came and passed me. "So a pretty unfortunate race, not what we expected. I got hit into turn one [by Raikkonen] so I had to cut the chicane unfortunately, but it is what it is."