Jenson Button does not understand his McLaren

In Abu Dhabi, McLaren experienced another “off” weekend. Yet things had started pretty well with the fastest times in two practice sessions and pole position secured by Lewis Hamilton on Saturday afternoon. The Englishman would have flown to victory had he not encountered fuel pressure issues.

At the wheel of the second McLaren, Jenson Button struggled more to tame his car and finished behind Sebastian Vettel, who started last on Sunday. « The weekend was strange. Friday went well, Saturday morning was good, but qualifying and the race were strange. It wasn’t terrible, but not extraordinary either. We tried new things with the settings. I am not satisfied with the situation at the moment. But let’s hope next season will be perfect, » explained the 2009 world champion to the British newspaper The Guardian.

It is true that more than any other single-seater, the McLaren has experienced ups and downs depending on the circuits and circumstances. For example, Jenson Button went through a significant slump with the return to Europe, unable to find the right settings to make his MP4-27 work properly.

« This car does not suit me as well as those of the last two years. Since I’ve been on this team, this is the worst year. It’s been difficult, even during good weekends. We’ve had problems almost every weekend lately. The car has an unusual behavior. It works very well for Lewis and works well for me from time to time. But we lack consistency, » admits Button.

But before thinking about 2013, there are still two races to go, in Austin and Interlagos, and Jenson hopes to go on holiday on a high note: « There are two races left where we hope to perform well. We still want to beat Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship, but we are 22 points behind now, which is quite significant. We need to score big points in the last two Grand Prix. »