Button: “It’s no surprise”

The last row of the starting grid for the Australian Grand Prix, first round of the 2015 World Championship, will be occupied by Both McLaren MP4-30 by Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen, following the absence of the two Manor Marussias of Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi. The Woking single-seaters did not perform miracles in qualifying this morning after already complicated tests and the logically cautious approach of the team in Melbourne.

“Today’s higher temperatures didn’t help conservative motor parameters that we chose for this weekend, says Yasuhisa Arai, Honda Motorsport manager. From the start we made the decision not to play with the engines in Australia. So there will be more to come from us. »

On the side of the pilots and in particular Jenson Button, we expect to suffer tomorrow in the race. “This level of performance is no surprise to us. We knew after winter testing that the pace wasn't there, so we knew we weren't going to be competitive here, specifies the 2009 World Champion. It's going to be a very difficult race. We haven't done a race distance yet, and my longest stint is 12 laps. There is still so much to learn. It will be a difficult day, but we will do our best. »