Button frustrated by lack of grip
Jenson Button bemoaned his Honda’s lack of pace after his second practice session for tomorrow's Bahrain Grand Prix was cut short.
Button spun midway through Practice Two yesterday as his engine blew spectacularly, forcing him off the track and out of the session.
He has been contesting in the middle of the grid this season having secured 15th place in Australia before improving to 12th last week in Malaysia.
He feels it will be difficult to better those positions until the necessary updates have been made to the car.
The 27-year-old said: “It is pretty simple really. We are not quick enough and the reasons for that are we are not producing enough grip for the drag.
“We can be quite quick in a straight line but the car is pretty difficult to drive and you cannot do the same corner twice in a race, so it is very difficult to be consistent. Or you can put dampers on and you’re nowhere because then we don’t have the straight-line speed.
“It is frustrating for everyone, not just myself but everyone within the team, but this is what we have at the moment and we just have to do the best job we can with it until we get something better.”
Button has been consistent in qualifying for the two races so far this season, starting 14th on the grid in Australia and 15th in Malaysia.
He managed to move up three places in Sunday’s race on the Sepang circuit but the Somerset man cast doubts as to whether that was a result of an improvement from his car or poorer performances from his competitors.
Button added: “It is easier in qualifying but in the race it is a much more difficult car to drive.
“We had a reasonable race in Malaysia from where we started on the grid but I don’t really think that reflects our performance and I think maybe other people didn’t have such a good race, and we got the best out of what we had.
“We are struggling with stability but it is not the only thing. It is very difficult to pinpoint one problem with the car. On braking, we have a stability problem with the rear and at the apex you also have another problem and tractions are not fantastic.
“Everything seems like it is not working. The PC seems like it is not the best PC we have had and other parts of the car are the same.
“The gears don’t feel as good but that is because the package at the moment is just not that great. As soon as we find more grip and more down force, I think all the other problems will fade away.”
