United States GP: Button penalized 5 places on the starting grid

Jenson Button’s American weekend is off to a rather bad start. The Briton has indeed announced that he would incur a five-place grid penalty for the United States Grand Prix, raced on Sunday, due to a gearbox change on his McLaren.

« I had to change my gearbox, which is a nasty blow for us. So I will have a five-place grid penalty, which is really a nasty blow. » he declared Thursday in a press conference.

The McLaren team, which had made significant progress during the last Grand Prix in Russia, was aiming to confirm its good form this weekend. With this penalty, certainly handicapping for their number one driver, the strategy might be slightly different, as Button confirms: “I think we are now very good at controlling tire temperatures and that sort of thing. So the heat is good news for us. We will also have to integrate this into the pit stop strategy, which becomes really important with such a penalty. Even if I qualify 4th or 5th on the grid, I will still be in the top ten and I will be on worn tires with guys on new tires behind me… it’s a really silly rule.”