Button sceptical about McLaren upgrades for Spain

Jenson Button is optimistic but believes there’s a lot of work to be done.

Former World Champion and McLaren driver, Jenson Button, is quick to play down the chances of McLaren shooting up the table with the upgrades planned for Spain. The Woking-based team has had a slow start to the season and the Briton is optimistic but remains sceptical about their chances.

“There’s been a lot of talk about the importance of next weekend’s upgrades; but, as with every upgrade, they’re simply part of the series of continuous improvement that are made across the season. As always, there’ll be elements of it that work, elements that perhaps work in a different way to what we’d anticipated, and elements that don’t work, or perhaps require further work. That’s life in modern Formula One.

“So I’m pragmatic about what we’ll discover next weekend. Of course, I’m hopeful that it’ll move us a step closer towards the destination.“

Last year saw Pastor Maldonado win the Spanish Grand Prix from pole and McLaren team principal, Martin Whitmarsh, believes we could be in for a surprise this time as well.

“The pace of life in Formula One never relents, and it’s incredible to think that our return to Europe next week will see a quarter of the 2013 championship already gone. As with last year, form at the start of the season is still somewhat volatile and unpredictable; last year’s Spanish Grand Prix saw an unexpected but worthy winner in Pastor Maldonado, and while it would be difficult to see another left-field runner emerging as a contender for victory, the formbook is still hard to read. We are pushing ahead to develop MP4-28, and will be hoping for a productive weekend that will allow us to gather a useful data set for the races ahead.“