• Canadian Grand Prix - FP2

Button expects close weekend

Jenson Button was pleased with the McLaren's high-fuel race pace © Getty Images

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• Report:
• Alonso quickest in disjointed session
  

• Race:
• Canadian Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Jenson Button

• Teams:
• McLaren

Jenson Button said he expects to have a close battle with Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes following practice for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Button was fourth quickest in the morning and fifth fastest in an afternoon session blighted by red flags following accidents for Kamui Kobayashi and Jerome d'Ambrosio. He admitted that he didn't know McLaren's raw pace as he had been unable to do any running on low-fuel, but that its high-fuel pace was encouraging compared to the rest of the field.

"We didn't do any low-fuel running on the Supersoft because of the two red flags, so we just filled the car up and sent it out at the end of the afternoon," Button said. "It's pleasing that the car felt pretty good on high-fuel. The Red Bulls are quick, so are the Ferraris, the Mercedes and ourselves - I think it'll be a little bit closer than it's been in the past few races."

Button also said that the disruption caused by the red flags made it tough to set the car up properly, and that he would be aiming to refine the low-fuel balance on Saturday.

"It's very difficult to make effective set-up changes when there are so many red flag stoppages. It's a very tough circuit here - one hit of a kerb in the wrong way can send you into the wall. But we did some high-fuel runs on the Option tyre; it was key to get some laps on the Supersoft. It's all useful information and I'm confident we can still improve the car's balance on low-fuel."

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