• Monaco Grand Prix

We'll have to try something different - Button

Jenson Button: "The problem is that I'm not the first car that's going to be thinking about doing another strategy" © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• Monaco Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Jenson Button
• |
• Lewis Hamilton

• Teams:
• McLaren

Jenson Button suspects he will have to think outside the box with his strategy at Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix after qualifying 12th on the grid.

Button struggled for grip in qualifying on Saturday and failed to make Q3 as a result. He will have the option of starting the race on whichever tyre compound he chooses, whereas the top eight will have to start on the super-soft tyres they qualified on. But Button is wary that the three cars in front of him, including Sebastian Vettel in ninth, have similar strategy options available to them.

"The problem is that I'm not the first car that's going to be thinking about doing another strategy," he said. "I think what Sebastian did in Q3 proved that he wants to save a set of new tyres and proves he's looking at doing the strategy he did last year [a one-stopper]. I think that is probably what he was going to plan on, which makes the race very difficult for everyone behind him if they were thinking of doing something different too. We'll see, I haven't discussed that with the engineers or strategists yet. I think we've got to try something a little bit different."

His team-mate Lewis Hamilton starts from third, but he too is expecting a tough time making forward progress from his grid slot.

"I think I proved last year that it's very, very tough to overtake here [Hamilton received two penalties for contact with cars while trying to pass], particularly if the cars in front are of a similar pace to you. Maybe if you're racing against a Marussia you can pass them a bit easier, but the other guys just need to make sure they don't leave any space and it's impossible to overtake. We just have to make sure we stay as close as possible from whatever position we're in and try to make sure we capitalise on our pit stops and our strategy and look after our tyres."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.