COOPER: Button Tells It Like It Is At McLaren

Formula 1

COOPER: Button Tells It Like It Is At McLaren

Jenson Button believes McLaren can be really good this year, despite mixed results in winter testing...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted March 14, 2013 Melbourne (AUS)

Jenson Button has high hopes for McLaren this season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Thursday was the first day of term in Melbourne, and while the cars don’t run until Friday, the drivers were all busy with media and other activities, mostly fielding the inevitable questions about the season ahead.

There were some interesting responses, but there was a limit to what anyone could say. Pretty much everybody agreed that we would know a little more on Friday and a lot more after qualifying on Saturday. And no one had a clear idea of who might have an advantage.

To be fair, you couldn’t blame the drivers for looking a little bored with questions that they couldn’t really answer. But among the most illuminating was Jenson Button, three-time winner of the Australian GP in recent years, who gave an interesting insight into the state of the union at McLaren.

Now one of the sport’s elder statesman – only Mark Webber and Kimi Raikkonen were born before him, and no one started F1 earlier – he has always had a straightforward, balanced approach. He’s now revelling in the role of clear team leader at McLaren.

The MP4-28 came out of the blocks fast at the first test in Jerez, but the team seemed to lose its way a little later on at Barcelona. It was by no means a disaster like last year’s Ferrari or similar, but nevertheless, it was disappointing.

“The first two tests weren’t great really because we had so much to test,” Jenson confirmed on Thursday. “We had to put mileage on so many different parts that we weren’t able to do any setup work as such with the car. The last test was much better, but we haven’t run the car the same for two days in terms of setup. It’s not been perfect.

“I feel that on the last day of testing I got a much better feel for the car, and we actually found something with the setup, and a direction with the car, and a feeling that I liked with it. But if you look at testing times, there are certain times that we definitely could not have done in testing.”

There was talk from both drivers in Barcelona to the effect that they didn’t understand the car fully. McLaren has addressed that by going back a step and, in effect, bringing a more straightforward version of the car to Australia.

“In the way that the car is here, we understand it very well. Certain things we tried over the winter, and that we haven’t quite got a handle on, those parts aren’t on the car. The way the car is, I think we have a very good understanding of it.”

Jenson sounded optimistic, but there was no getting away from his comment about McLaren being unable to match the quicker times of certain rivals. Was he worried?

“If we were racing in Barcelona this weekend, I think we would be,” he said. “It’s different here. I know it’s going to be cooler than it now on Sunday, but it’s still hotter than the test. It’s a very different type of asphalt, and as we know, it’s just a very different circuit to Barcelona. We will see. I think we’re all just excited about getting out there and seeing where we stand. I think it’s going to be quite mixed conditions this weekend, so it’s going to be tough to see where we are.

“But the important thing is to make the best of what we have at this moment. It’s an important time of the year to pick up big points, it’s a time when people maybe don’t understand the cars, or are not quite up to speed with everything. You’ve got to collect the big points when you can.”

The significance of McLaren going back a step with a more basic setup is that it has all the new stuff, and more besides, waiting to be bolted on. With no testing, it’s not always easy to get updates to gel properly, but the team is confident that it has extra performance in its pocket. In other words, the MP4-28 perhaps has greater potential to improve than some of its main rivals. That’s what Button thinks.

“I think when you look at most cars, most cars are fundamentally the same cars as last year. They’ve developed and developed it. Whereas ours if very different. The geometry of the car is very different, the way the aerodynamics work is very different, so it is always going to be tougher if you’ve made bigger changes. We still don’t think that that should hinder us in the first race, but it should help us throughout the season over the 19 races, having a much better development curve than most other teams.”

There’s no doubt that McLaren will miss Lewis Hamilton in many ways, but the team already has faith in Sergio Perez’s technical ability. Jenson is impressed by what he has seen so far.

“I obviously listen in on the radio,” he said. “It’s important to understand your teammate’s feedback. You think it’s easy, we all say the same things, but we don’t; we explain it in different ways. You need to make sure that he’s saying something that you understand. You need that to develop the car together.

“I’ve been listening in at the meetings, obviously, and his feedback is good and he has a good understanding of what he wants from a car. We’ve been working well together actually. He’s had two years’ experience in F1, but he’s picked up a lot over those two years, which is good, and he’s confident with relaying his information. It’s been good so far.”

As soon as Perez was announced, it was suggested that he and Button would prefer a similar development route, as they share a smooth driving style, even if that assumption is a little simplistic. Jenson confirms that there hasn’t been much chance to judge that as of yet.

“We haven’t had the same car once in testing, but that’s not through choice; that’s just through testing different parts, and ‘mileaging’ different parts. I think we’ll have a much more similar setup tomorrow.

“It’s so different when you come here after testing. Last year we really didn’t know if we had a good car before we drove on Friday, and then we realized it was a very strong car at the start of the year. We’re not too worried, but we just want to get out and see what we have really, and see what we have to work with.”

It’s not just the comparison between Button and Perez that will come into focus on Friday, but much more besides. Now there is nowhere to hide.

This time last year Button was my pick for the World Championship in a website poll, and I looked pretty good after he won the first race! Luckily, I didn’t put any money on him.

Listening to him Thursday made me think that, even if McLaren has an average weekend in Australia, the team might have a car which will get a lot better. Will it be enough to win Jenson a second title? Time will tell.

Adam Cooper notched up his 28th season as a racing journalist in 2012. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED