The two McLarens move to Q2 in Spain

Jenson Button had mixed feelings at the end of the qualifying session. He finally made it to Q2 but had to deal with brake issues, even though they were new: « I am a bit frustrated because we put new brakes on for qualifying. Yet every time I braked on the first corner, the car veered to the left. On my last run in Q2, the team told me to warm up my brakes differently. So they weren’t fully warm when I started my fast lap. I ended up locking my brakes on the first three braking zones. We need to see why. »

These missed brake points cost him a few tenths, which explains why he was beaten by his teammate, Fernando Alonso. He remains confident for the rest of the weekend as he believes his car paradoxically has a bit more potential than the cars around him: « Yesterday, our long-run pace seemed good. Many teams turn up their engines for qualifying and turn them down for the race. We don’t need to do that. So we might start the race with a bit more potential than some of the cars around us. »

For Fernando Alonso, returning to the scene of his accident during winter testing, the 13th and 14th places achieved consistently are a sign that things are improving for the Woking team, even if it’s not yet enough to satisfy its ambitions: « We are starting 13th and our tire management looked good. I think we can hope to break into the top 10, but we will have to push throughout the race. To be honest, scoring one or two points tomorrow is not what the race hopes for. It’s good for everyone’s motivation if we manage to achieve tangible results. So scoring points would be a good step. »