• Australian Grand Prix

Button expects Melbourne to suit McLaren

Jenson Button is expecting to improve on his seventh place in Australia © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• Australian Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Jenson Button
• |
• Lewis Hamilton

• Teams:
• McLaren

Jenson Button is expecting to be more competitive at the next round of the championship in Australia, after starting his title defence with a seventh place finish in Bahrain.

Button appeared to struggle for pace all weekend and after complaining about the bumpy and tight new section of the Bahrain circuit, he only managed to qualify eighth. However, he believes his performance belied the true potential of the car and is confident the McLaren will be better suited to Albert Park in Australia.

"In Melbourne there are slow corners but it's not these really, really slow, second-gear twisty sections," Button said. "I think the car will work better there. The car is much quicker than it suggested in qualifying."

Since Bahrain, Button has openly admitted he was out performed by his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who qualified fourth and finished third. Heading into the season Hamilton was expected to have the raw pace, while many thought Button's smoother diving style would give him an advantage in preserving tyres during the race. However, Hamilton believes he was as smooth as any of the other drivers in Bahrain and can adapt his driving style if necessary.

"I looked after my tyres as well as, if not better than, anybody," Hamilton said. "If someone said 'Jenson and Lewis, go out and do the smoothest lap possible' I guarantee the laps would be the same smoothness."

After spending the last two days at McLaren's Woking base to develop the MP4-25 and launch its road car division, Hamilton is confident his team can close the gap to Ferrari and Red Bull at the front.

"It's going to be difficult for us to close the performance gap immediately, but I think I'll go back to the factory and give them the biggest push," he said. "I know they're all pushing flat-out as it is, but we need to get some upgrades, and we need to bring as many of them forward as we possibly can."

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