Button flies to McLaren’s rescue

Last Tuesday, it wasn’t a young driver seeking thrills who returned to Great Britain, but the world F1 champion himself. Jenson Button arrived from Malaysia to start a series of simulator tests at the team’s headquarters in Woking.

«I am not 100% satisfied with the car’s balance, I hope we can fix some of the issues in the simulator. There’s no better ally in such cases. » He stated.

As he was supposed to leave Sepang to head to Tokyo to be with his partner Jessica Michibata, Button (4th in the drivers’ standings after the Malaysian GP where he finished 8th) decided to travel over 20,000 km to return to England to help his team. Once the work is done, he will join his friend in Japan.

“The way back (to Japan) is long, but if I’m sent to Woking, it’s because there are indeed a few small things to test,” he says.

At McLaren, there is hope that investment in technology will allow them to outpace their rivals in single-seater development throughout the season.

It is already established that on the English side, numerous improvements are expected to appear during the next Grand Prix in China. Furthermore, the immediate proximity of the Woking technical center will allow the team to offer even more new developments at the start of the European season in Barcelona.

McLaren is a technologically advanced team. The high-tech tools used have often given the team a decisive advantage, such as during Lewis Hamilton’s victory in the drivers’ world championship during the 2008-2009 season, or when last season, the technicians were able to transform a rather slow car into a silver arrow capable of winning races.

But the sole use of computer tools brings its share of sometimes fatal errors. Like in Melbourne when Hamilton was instructed to pit for a second tire change, even though the podium was promised to him. In Malaysia, incorrect weather indications caused both drivers to go out too late to achieve a good time in qualifying.

Martin Whitmarsh, the team principal, acknowledges it: «Perhaps we sometimes rely too much on technology….But we have some improvements coming and there’s no reason we can’t win the championship if we learn from our mistakes.»

Hamilton will also be doing his part of the work on the simulator this week. He will return to his Swiss home in Geneva to prepare before departing for Shanghai.