Button staying positive despite Monza struggles

Jenson Button says his sights are already set on Singapore after qualifying 16th at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix, admitting McLaren didn’t have a hope of making Q2 in qualifying.

Button qualified 16^th fastest, beating teammate Fernando Alonso, but said he was already looking forward to the next race on the streets of Singapore, as his Honda engine struggled to match its rivals on Monza's long straights.

When asked how he was coping with setbacks like this, he replied: “You don’t at times, I think we’ve shown that.

“The whole team watch us drive the car and do interviews, and they need to be positive because it’s not easy right now. For them to be positive, we’ve got to be positive – it’s the only way we’re going to move forward and be successful in the future. It could be worse, that’s the way we’ve got to look at it.

“Next race, we’re hoping it’ll be much better than where we are now, fighting for points, and then it’s a different story.”

“We weren’t going to qualify for Q2”

Button’s best lap was 1.8s off Lewis Hamilton’s overall fastest time, but was unable to beat the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat to make Q2.

“The balance in qualifying was OK, although I had too much understeer in the car,” said Button. “The first run felt reasonably good, and it normally grips up around here, so we added a bit of front wing but it was probably half what it needed really.

“I had a reasonable tow from the car in front but even with getting it just right, with the right amount of wing angle, we weren’t going to qualify for Q2. Three tenths to the car in front is just a little bit too big.”