Button to start from the pitlane after ERS-related failure triggered engine problems in P3; Briton expecting to have to serve drive-through penalty in Montreal race
Sunday 7 June 2015 12:53, UK
Jenson Button is bracing himself for a “long” and challenging Canadian GP after yet more McLaren-Honda unreliability woe meant he had to sit out qualifying.
The 2011 Montreal winner will start from what McLaren have confirmed will be the pitlane for Sunday’s 70-lap race after ERS problems in the closing stages of final practice meant he stopped his MP4-30 on the circuit. The issues caused damage to the Honda engine and McLaren’s mechanics had insufficient time to replace it with a new unit for qualifying.
Button, who sat on the sidelines for the Bahrain GP three races ago for reliability reasons, is now set to unlock his fourth internal combustion engine of the season – the final penalty-free unit he has access to. Team-mate Fernando Alonso has already reached that limit after McLaren had to change his car’s engine ahead of P3.
“It is a tough one. Initially it was an electronic issue and then that caused the problem with the ICE, so it is difficult," Button told Sky Sports F1.
"But we will deal with it and the guys are doing a great job of taking the car apart and putting it all back together so hopefully we will have a good car and hopefully it will be a fun race. But I will get a penalty tomorrow and I think it will be quite a big one.”
Although Button just remains inside his allocation engine limit for 2015, he tweeted on Saturday night "I'll be starting last with a drive through penalty to take!”. Neither McLaren nor the FIA have yet confirmed the penalty situation, but the Sporting Regulations state that a driver will serve a drive-through penalty in the race if he has 11-20 grid penalty places untaken.
Having already unlocked a fourth MGU-H and fourth turbocharger ahead of Friday practice, Button would seemingly have accrued a 15-place penalty for unlocking a fifth element of each.
Such a penalty combined with a lack of straight-line speed means the Briton, who famously won from last place mid-way through the Canadian GP four years ago, is predicting a difficult Sunday.
“I don’t think I’ll be overtaking many cars tomorrow, I think I will be a long way behind anyway to start with because of the penalties we will incur in the race,” he added.
“Whether it is a stop-and-go or a drive-through I am not sure yet. But it makes the race…long.”
Alonso, meanwhile, took part in qualifying and set the 14th-fastest time, which becomes 13th on the grid after Toro Rosso’s penalised Max Verstappen dropped down the order.
McLaren have scored points in just the Monaco GP since their winter reunion with Honda.
