Four races into Honda’s return to Formula 1 with McLaren, the engine supplier are still seeking their first points of 2015, with Fernando Alonso getting the closest so far this season with eleventh in Bahrain, although Jenson Button was unable to start due to more mechanical woes.
Alonso finished less than four seconds away from the team’s first points of 2015, but felt the team were able to gain a lot more experience with their new car after seeing the chequered flag for the second time in three starts this season for the Spaniard.
“We weren’t quite fast enough to get into the top 10, but we finished the race and got a bit more valuable experience with the car, which had been our main objective,” said Alonso.
“Everything worked fine on my side of the garage, but unfortunately Jenson couldn’t start the race. We need to look at many things before the Spanish Grand Prix, and we have three weeks in which to increase our performance and improve our reliability. There’s a lot of work ahead, but we’re optimistic.
“It’s clear that we’re all committed to this project and to doing all we can to bring about our eventual comeback. The whole team is united and everyone is hugely motivated by the challenge ahead. Hopefully, we can build on what we’ve achieved so far, and see further improvements over the next few races.”
Team-mate Button’s weekend was disastrous from free practice all the way through to race day, with the Briton being forced to miss the race with his car still showing signs of the technical problems that had blighted his weekend. Despite this, the Briton was still able to find positives from the weekend.
“Obviously, that was a disappointing day to end a disappointing weekend,” reflected Button.
“However, although I was unable to get the running I required, and was also unable to make the start of today’s race at all, it’s clear that our car is improving, and that’s good news for all of us.
“That’s a result of a lot of hard work. In particular, I want to say a big ‘thank you’ to the boys in the garage, who worked unbelievably hard all weekend for so little reward. Their commitment and team spirit are massively impressive, and I know we’ll get the rewards they deserve in the end.”
