- Belgian GP - Qualifying
Button annoyed after 'fluffing' last lap
Jenson Button admits he "fluffed" his final run on Spa's drying track after qualifying tenth for the Belgian Grand Prix.
Button was in the mix with the team-mate Kevin Magnussen and the Williams duo after his first run in Q3 but as the track continued to dry there were improvements to be found on the final run. But a mistake at the top of Eau Rouge compromised that lap and Button knows he should have finished higher.
"No, not at all," Button said when asked if tenth was a fair reflection of his pace. "At the start of Q3 when I set my first time I was quite a bit higher than that and on old tyres. On the last run, it was dryer, I had a new set of tyres on the cars but I fluffed it on the top of hill, locked up the front right and just went straight on.
"It should have been the run that got me the lap time but I made the mistake and didn't really get to finish the lap. A pity, but hey ho, we'll see what we can do tomorrow."
Button believes the wet weather hampered McLaren's low downforce configuration but he expects better if the forecast of a dry race is accurate.
"If it's dry, more than the wet," he said when asked if McLaren could be competitive on Sunday. "We're running quite low downforce, to match a Mercedes in a straight line means lower downforce but that we're less efficient. That probably hurts us in the wet a little bit. It's going to be fun though, if it's dry, I'm looking forward to it."
Button, who won the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix, admits driving the new V6 turbo cars around Spa continues to provide a challenge.
"It's very tricky. At Blanchimont there's massive oversteer for me, I don't know if it's for everyone. At Eau Rouge its big understeer on your way in and then a snap at the top of the hill so it's very tricky out there. Everyone is running quite low downforce so it's quite difficult to get the tyres working. I'm hoping for a dry race tomorrow, hopefully we'll put on a better show if its dry."
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