McLaren Honda
Jenson Button says he was encouraged to reach the finish of the Australian Grand Prix, despite coming home two laps down in 11th position.
Button spent much of the race at the back of the pack though briefly battled with Sergio Perez, before falling back to last position.
"We’re still a long way off, but this is a good starting point – and I enjoyed the race," he said.
"I even had a good little battle with Checo [Perez]. Today also really helps in terms of development: if we’d done three laps, we’d have learned nothing, so we’ve learned a massive amount by completing a race distance.
"It was also a good opportunity for me to get used to the car and to play around with it, making adjustments in the cockpit. There’s a lot of work still needed – on power, driveability, downforce and set-up – but we can make big strides. And, by improving one area, it tends to snowball; more and more areas start to improve, too.
"There were more positives: we’re as quick as the Force Indias in the corners, and we look similar in speed through the corners to the Red Bulls and Saubers, too.
"It’s been a tough winter – our longest run in testing was just 12 laps, so today’s 58-lap run was a good step forward – but we know we’ve got a lot of work to do. But, with all of today’s learning, there are many areas we can improve for the next race."
