• European Grand Prix

Button predicts diffuser problems

Jenson Button hopes his rivals will struggle in Valencia © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News:
• Hamilton worried by blown-diffuser cars
  
• News:
• Button baffled by Red Bull inconsistency
  
• News:
• Rosberg sets early Valencia pace
  
• News:
• Renault and Mercedes to run blown diffusers in Valencia
  
• News:
• Button targets 'special' homecoming
  

• Race:
• European Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Jenson Button

• Teams:
• McLaren

Jenson Button predicts problems for teams planning to run Red Bull style exhaust-blown diffusers in Valencia this weekend.

Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault are all planning to run the device, used to such good effect by Red Bull, during the European Grand Prix weekend.

Button's McLaren team will not test a similar layout until the British Grand Prix in two weeks, and the world champion told reporters in Valencia on Thursday that there is a chance his rivals attempts to gain a performance advantage could backfire.

"The floors are going to be getting very hot, so they're going to get through a lot of floors, I'm sure," said Button.

Button's desire to see his rivals stumble with the new diffuser concept is well founded as McLaren engineers predict the innovation is worth up to half a second per lap.

"Coming here I thought that momentum could be carried, but looking at all the cars around us in the pitlane - which I had a little nose at earlier on - there is a lot of new bits on cars."

McLaren engineering director Paddy Lowe said earlier this week that he is concerned that their rivals, Ferrari in particular, could close the performance gap by using the system in Valencia this weekend.

"That is a concern," said Lowe. "I think we'll have to see how they get on with it. It's a shame that some others have been slightly quicker than we were getting it, but we are where we are. I think we'll have to do what we can and see.

"What's very interesting and really great for the interest in the sport is the variation you get in very fine differentials between teams as you go through the different circuits with different characteristics. It's not very predictable."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.