Jenson Button 'positive' over McLaren's prospects at Bahrain GP
"It's definitely better than Melbourne," says Jenson, who also praises Stoffel Vandoorne's debut performance
Monday 4 April 2016 14:34, UK
An optimistic Jenson Button says McLaren's car feels "positive" at the Bahrain GP after the team finished an unexpected third-fastest on Friday.
A day after suffering the blow of Fernando Alonso being sidelined for at least this weekend's race after his big Melbourne shunt, Button gave the clearest glimpse yet of the performance jump the McLaren-Honda package appears to have made over the winter.
The team have finished in the points just five times in the 21 races since McLaren's problem-filled reunion with Honda, but had qualified more strongly at the season-opener in Australia before their weekend went awry again in the race.
Asked if their eye-catching form in Bahrain on Friday - when only the dominant Mercedes cars outpaced them in P2 - boded well for the weekend, Button told Sky Sports News HQ: "I don't really know yet. But P1 was the same.
"In the second run in P1 we ran higher fuel, so couldn't really get a reasonable lap time, but I think it would have been equally competitive.
"The car doesn't feel too bad. I came from the back up tyre to the supersoft, which is a big leap - I think it's 3.2 seconds. So it's obviously going to feel good and you're probably not going get everything out of it, but the balance is reasonable.
"The car's feeling nice around here, it's definitely better than Melbourne. Long run, some areas need a bit of work - especially on the harder compounds - but the supersoft was reasonably good."
McLaren's first target would appear to be a return to the final phase of qualifying on Saturday - a feat they have not achieved since 2014 - and Button added: "It's a nice place to be, a positive start but still, as always, there is more work to be done overnight."
The weight of expectation at McLaren will rest on the 36-year-old Button's shoulders this weekend given Alonso's stand-in, reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne, is making his F1 debut.
After flying in from Japan overnight, the reigning GP2 champion steadily improved his pace during the course of Friday and finished second practice in 11th place.
Vandoorne, who only learnt of his call-up on Thursday, told Sky Sports News HQ: "I feel 100 per cent ready. Today was very good, I felt comfortable in the car quickly and I had a good feeling in P2. There were a lot of operational things l had to learn, but so far it has been very good.
"I have to enjoy this opportunity. It's never ideal to jump into a car without any testing but so far it's been very good in both practice sessions."
The 24-year-old had never driven the MP4-31 prior to Practice One and ended the day 0.7 seconds adrift of Button. However, McLaren's elder statesman was impressed with Vandoorne's performance.
"He's done a really good job today," Button said.
"His lap would have been a lot better than it looked, so he's fitted in as you would expect. He's a very talented driver, so we'll see what we can do as a team [in qualifying]."
