• Malaysian Grand Prix

Malaysia won't bring improvement - Button

ESPN Staff
March 19, 2013 « Lotus pushing hard with new updates for Malaysia | Bird returns to GP2 with Russian Time »
Jenson Button finished scored two points in Melbourne © Sutton Images
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Jenson Button is not expecting McLaren to come any closer to solving the issues with its new car at this weekend's race in Malaysia.

McLaren struggled for performance at the first race in Australia as it became abundantly clear the new car is still some way off the pace of the frontrunners. The MP4-28 is a major departure from its race-winning predecessor and Button admitted it is not the work of a minute to bring it up to speed.

"Australia was obviously a tough weekend and, despite getting the maximum out of the car, it's still clearly not where we want to be," he said. "There's a lot of work to be done but we all know that this team won't stop working until they get it right. For this weekend, I don't think we can expect an improvement in our fortunes.

However, Button is hoping the unpredictable weather in Malaysia will be an advantage for McLaren.

"The thing about Malaysia is that it can be so unpredictable - particularly with the later start time on Sunday afternoon, which tends to see late-afternoon showers fall. We saw that last year, when Fernando won, and we know that the unpredictable weather can make it a lottery for everyone.

"That's something that could play into our hands - I do enjoy driving in changeable conditions, and would love the challenge of being able to run competitively in a car that we all know is not quite capable of challenging for victories yet."

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