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Formula 1 Chinese GP
Button "hoping" McLaren strategy was wrong
Jenson Button admitted he hopes McLaren chose a wrong strategy for the Chinese Grand Prix, because the only other possible explanation for missing the points is just not being "quick enough".
Valentin Khorounzhiy Pablo Elizalde
Edited: Apr 21, 2016, 2:59 PM
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The Briton, who yesterday was excited about the pace of the car, finished the race in 13th, as the final driver on the lead lap and four seconds adrift of his teammate Fernando Alonso.
Both McLaren drivers ended up stopping just twice in the race - and Button is hopeful that that was the wrong strategy call.
The Brit recalled: "The start was good, I don't know where it was running, but it was quite high up, well into the points, was quite excited.
"After the safety car, we were in a good position but we were on the medium tyre. Stood still, really, compared to everyone else, whereas our pace on the option was pretty good on the first stint, it was fun racing with the quicker cars for a while.
"And then we tried to do a two-stop which didn't really work out as we put the options on in the end, they just destroyed themselves.
"Hopefully we've made the wrong strategy call putting on the medium. Because if we didn't, we are not quick enough to be in the points at the moment, 'cause nothing else went wrong. So I'm hoping that was the wrong choice."
Alonso likewise disappointed
Having finished 12th, Alonso was a lot more categorical than his teammate, saying that McLaren definitely didn't have the pace for points in the grand prix.
"A bit disappointing when you don't finish in the points," the Spaniard conceded.
"We expected a bit more, probably to finish in the top 10. There were no problems for anyone.
"I was expecting something to happen, but nothing happened and everybody finished without problems. We were not quick enough to be in the top 10 so we need to improve for the next one.
"Probably the safety car didn't help us much. It wasn't a present for the cars in front either. But we weren't fast enough to follow their pace."
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