Sunday: Button and Magnussen still lagging at McLaren

Jenson Button (No. 22) – 11th

Starting from the 8th position, Jenson Button hoped to bring valuable points to his team, but a risk in strategy cost him dearly: « My second stop compromised my strategy. During the first two stints, it seemed like we were making progress because we were faster than the cars in front. But we took a risk by pitting earlier for the second stop thinking we could overtake one of the Force Indias, but Kvyat followed me and got ahead, which delayed my release from the pits by a few seconds. ».

The Briton continues: “I came out of the pits just ahead of Lewis [Hamilton] who was driving on worn tires, while I was on new tires, but I had to let him pass and he delayed me a little more. Nevertheless, I think we learned something useful today, I will stay here for next week’s test, so I hope we can make further progress.”

Kevin Magnussen (No. 20) – 12th

In contrast to his teammate, Magnussen had a good start and performed well in the initial laps. After a minor, inconsequential touch with Sebastian Vettel, the young driver found himself stuck in the pack: « I knew it would be hard to move forward starting 14th on the grid. The midfield is very tight, so overtaking is extremely difficult. Moreover, it means we couldn’t use a different strategy from the others to make up for it. If we had started where we should have [that is, without the qualifying issue], I think we could have scored some good points today. »