Button: I hadn’t missed it"

Jenson Button: FP1 => 14th (1:14.954 / 35 laps) / FP2 => 12th (1:13.981 / 37 laps)

If there is much talk about Fernando Alonso’s absence due to the Indianapolis 500, there is just as much talk about Jenson Button’s return to competition, only six months after bidding farewell in Abu Dhabi. While he stated on Wednesday that he felt no particular pressure for this one-off return, it did not prevent him from enjoying the moment:

It was fun when I did my installation lap this morning. I laughed to myself. Did I miss it? No, but when you get in the car, you clearly enjoy the moment. I really enjoyed the testing, both on short and long stints.

The 2009 world champion adopted a progressive strategy, choosing first to drive only on soft tires (the hardest brought by Pirelli) to familiarize himself with the different procedures in the car. While he feels comfortable behind the wheel, he did notice the change in size of the cars: « The strangest thing is when you are behind a car or letting a car pass. When you look, it is gigantic! That’s when you are no longer comfortable because you think maybe you are too close to the barriers. But the car suits me, it’s like a glove. »

The comeback driver could thus be satisfied with being less than a tenth behind his teammate, Stoffel Vandoorne, who was discovering the Monaco circuit at the wheel of an F1. He believes that Friday’s session will be useful for making the necessary changes: “I haven’t really thought about where I want to finish. The guys know where I’m coming from. They know what they need to do to improve the car so that I feel a bit better and gain a little more confidence.”

Stoffel Vandoorne: FP1 => 12th (1:14.813 / 38 laps) / FP2 => 11th (1:13.946 / 42 laps)

For the regular driver, Stoffel Vandoorne, this first day in Monaco was already a good day for not having experienced any technical problems, which is unfortunately an exception this season at McLaren Honda. He is also aware that it will be very tight between the different teams during qualifying: If you look at the lap times, you can see that it’s extremely tight in the midfield. That’s exactly where we are. This means we need to maximize all our opportunities and extract the maximum from the car. A tenth or two will undoubtedly make a big difference during qualifying.

We shall see if he will be able to make it into his first Q3 of his career, as his best grid position this season remains a 15th place in Shanghai.

From our special correspondent in Monaco