- McLaren
Everything feels right with MP4-30 - Button
Jenson Button does not think McLaren overreached with the aggressive design of the MP4-30 and says all the signs points towards a car with good driveability.
McLaren suffered another frustrating test in Barcelona and was limited to just 129 laps in four days. Much of the delay was down to an issue on the engine side, a faulty MGU-K seal, meaning McLaren has not focused on performance so far this winter.
"I feel every time when I get in the car everything feels right with the car, but I haven't pushed this car yet," Button said.
McLaren hired former Red Bull design chief Peter Prodromou last year and unveiled a radical "size-zero" design concept to go with its new Honda package.
When asked if McLaren had over-reached on the design side, Button replied: " No, not at all. The car works when you drive it. What's very positive already is the driveability of the engine has come a long way since [Jerez] which is great from the drivers point of view. Also the way we are using the ERS system so there are massive steps but you just don't get to see it because of we run into other problems we need to solve. So no.
"The engine packaging is fantastic on this car, which helps the airflow for the aerodynamics - Prod's very happy - and that hasn't caused any issues at all in terms of temperatures and stuff so it's other issues that we've run into that can be solved and not hamper us in other ways which is good."
Driveability was an issue for some teams last year, notably for the Renault-powered Lotus E22, while the new brake-by-wire system caused problems, but Button does not think the MP4-30 will be a bad car to drive once McLaren gets over its teething problems with Honda.
"All the bits that people struggled with driveability-wise last year, with the two engines I didn't drive, we don't have. Driveability seems to be positive and we've made massive steps forward since the first test. Driveabiity and also under braking, so that's all working really well, which is good. When we get past these issues we can just focus on developing and moving forward. It's just fine-tuning driveability now which is great, a really nice position to be in.
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