Button looking to reverse fortune

04 July 2015 04:47

Jenson Button has joked that he would welcome the introduction of reversed grids in Formula One such is the woeful form of his McLaren team.

The 2009 world champion and his team-mate Fernando Alonso qualified on the penultimate row for Sunday's British Grand Prix on another dismal afternoon for the once-mighty constructor.

Button, who could be making his 16th and final Silverstone outing, was however in jovial form despite posting a time which was only quicker than the Manor cars.

Asked what one rule he would like to see introduced in Formula One to make the sport more exciting, Button said: "Reversed grids? That would be quite good this year, but change it for next year, maybe."

Adopting a more serious tone, Button, who has finished in the points at just one race this season, added: "It wasn't the highlight of my year. In front of the home crowd you want to have a great weekend. The fans understand the position we have been in.

"When it comes to your home grand prix, we all get a little bit excited and hope for more, but it was always going to be difficult this weekend. I thought we could get into Q2, but that was before we drove this weekend.

"It is a difficult position for all of us. I have really crappy days, and moments that I am not happy, and qualifying was one of them, but there is no point us being down because that is not going to help us improve. Smiling is better than frowning."

Button, 35, was speaking alongside Alonso, McLaren team principal Eric Boullier and Honda motorsport chief Yasuhisa Arai.

Despite Honda's troubles, Arai insisted he remained the right man to lead the Japanese manufacturer's F1 project, and ruled out poaching any leading figures from their rivals to help fire McLaren and Honda back to the front of the grid.

Arai instead insisted Honda's vision in the sport was a "long-term project", before Boullier tellingly said: "We are in Formula One to win races, so we have to make sure both projects are aligned."

Lewis Hamilton, who left McLaren at the end of the 2012 season to join Mercedes, will start his home race from pole position after edging out Nico Rosberg.

While Hamilton has triumphed at 15 grands prix since he left McLaren - a move which came under heavy scrutiny in the paddock - his former team are on a 46-race winless streak.

"It has been difficult for them this year, and it is definitely hard for me to see their results with such a great team, such a huge team," Hamilton said.

"It is abnormal to see them in the position they are in right now, but you have got the great Ron Dennis there, you have got a lot of great engineers, and team spirit which eventually I believe will pull through. This is a dark patch for them right now but hopefully there is light at the end of the tunnel."

Source: PA