Jenson Button has acknowledged the possibility that McLaren might not be on the pace early in the 2011 season. Button told Italy's Autosprint: "I have definitely not completed the laps that I expected to, and when it comes to developing a new car it is essential to do a lot of kilometres. This car has a lot of potential, but if the development work is late, there may be a gap in the first races of the championship." Unless there are serious problems, you wouldn't expect someone like Button to be so pessimistic. Even the Mercedes lads are saying how they can "compete with the best". It gives us a good idea of just how concerned Button is about the MP4-26's pace. He also said: "I've heard rumours that the Red Bull is six tenths faster than Ferrari, and also that Ferrari are one second faster than everyone on race pace! I think that to get an overall picture we will have to wait until the first race" No idea where he keeps hearing these rumours. Didn't he say about a week ago that Ferrari were 2 second quicker on long runs?
See why is Button allowed to say this by his team? Surely Him and Lewis would of been told just to simply say 'Everything is ok with the car'.
Button's comments surprised me because normally a driver wouldn't say something like this, especially while pre season testing is still ongoing - not unless McLaren is a complete dog.
or its a HOAX and the car is really good. But there is a lot of negativity coming from Mclaren just like in 2009
I doubt it. Hamilton was reported to be "visibly frustrated" at Barcelona and McLaren haven't been setting any special lap times either. With Brundle making observations like "McLaren looks shocking as if it's on cold tyres", I think Button is just being realistic about his chances.
There isn't too much that can be taken from testing, Barrichello was setting headline times and I can't imagine that'll happen in Melbourne, much as I'd like it to. Mclaren may be playing mind games, they might really be struggling, but equally they only said they'd struggle for the first few races, does that mean they just need the data that those races will provide in order to maximise the cars potential and compete?
That may be true DH but Williams are saying they may be on pace with red bull... tricky to call till Aus
It's all a little worrying, another season starting down the grid on pace. Lets hope that they can get back on target a little quicker than previous years. Previously Hamilton was able to always place the car higher than it deserved, but with the new tyres I'm not sure that will happen this year. It's one thing being able to push your car beyond its limits, but if the tyres limits come first then you're in trouble.
