Friday: Button quite satisfied with McLaren despite his penalty
Jenson Button was penalized by the stewards of the United States Grand Prix for overtaking under a red flag during the first practice session, resulting in a three-place grid penalty. The Briton is understandably disappointed but has confidence in his car's performance and remains optimistic. Sergio Pérez had more difficulties, particularly due to a mechanical issue that cost him track time.
Jenson Button – 2nd and 9th:
« The two sessions today were quite positive. Our single-seater seems pretty good here, and it’s a fun circuit to drive, so I think we can make more progress. Hopefully, we can also qualify a little closer to the front as well.
However, this will be made more difficult due to my three-place grid penalty for overtaking under a red flag during free practice 1. It wasn’t a dangerous situation, and I didn’t do it on purpose – the other car slowed down – but rules are rules and it was the wrong thing to do.
Nevertheless, in terms of race pace, I think we seem good – we just need to extract the maximum performance from the car in qualifying. It’s a shame to start three places further back – I’m not making things easy for myself in the last few races – but I’ll give it my all tomorrow.
Sergio Pérez – 12th and 13th:
« After these past few days, it’s really nice to be back on track and doing the work I truly love. The circuit is quite dirty, so it’s difficult to get the tires up to temperature. The track surface also changed a lot between free practice 1 and 2, so I think it will be interesting to see the upcoming changes tomorrow, especially with the changing weather expected.
We had a mechanical problem that affected our running today – the car’s balance wasn’t great, and I didn’t feel comfortable. It also cost me a bit of time this afternoon and means I didn’t run much with fuel. Obviously, this makes things more complicated, but with the changes we’ll make tonight, I’m confident we’ll improve tomorrow.
