• Hungarian Grand Prix

Button expects Hungary turnaround

Jenson Button is expecting McLaren to be back on the pace at the Hungaroring © Getty Images

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• Race:
• Hungarian Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Jenson Button
• |
• Lewis Hamilton
• |
• Martin Whitmarsh

• Teams:
• McLaren

Jenson Button is positive that McLaren can give an improved performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend.

Despite its failure to get either driver on the podium at the German Grand Prix last Sunday, Button believes McLaren has cause to be optimistic at the Hungaroring.

"After Hockenheim, I think we go to Budapest feeling more optimistic about our pace - the team has traditionally gone well at the track, and we feel we have a high-downforce configuration that should be well-suited to the circuit."

Qualifying fifth and sixth in Germany proved McLaren did not have the improved performance it had hoped for from its new blown diffuser, but its straight-line speed made sure it still scored valuable points with Hamilton and Button finishing the race 4th and 5th respectively to stay at the top of both championships. With a high-downforce package and data about the new diffuser from Hockenheim, Button is confident the MP4-25 can perform better.

"We're learning more and more about the blown floor after every session, and I feel like we got some very useful data from Sunday's race in Germany," he added. "Now it's all about maximising our package and hopefully securing a strong result before the summer break - that would be a massive positive for everybody on the team."

Team Principle Martin Whitmarsh is also confident, believing the bumpy, twisty Hungaroring is likely to help McLaren close the gap to its rivals.

"Historically, the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team has always gone well at the Hungaroring," he said. "Lewis won the race in 2007, and again in '09. While we're under no illusions that our pace relative to our rivals was lacking at Hockenheim, the MP4-25 should perform better in a more dedicated high-downforce configuration. More encouragingly, we've now got one race with the blown diffuser under our belts, and this has already given us lots of data with which to take the concept forwards."

Lewis Hamilton echoed Button's enthusiasm and is looking forward to a better result.

"Firstly, the track has a couple of high-speed corners - in particular, the blind left-hander at Turn Four, and the right-hander at Turn 11 - and, since the revisions to the first corner, it's a place where passing is definitely possible, even if it's not easy".

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