Jenson Button finally provided the renewed-for-2015 partnership between his McLaren team and Honda some points with an eighth place finish during the Monaco Grand Prix.
The 2009 Formula 1 World Champion admitted it was a flat-out race to the flag after despatching both Nico Hulkenberg and Pastor Maldonado in the opening laps, but knows there is still work to be done by the team to be in contention for points every weekend.
“It’s been a positive day for us,” said Button. “We were hoping to score a point today, and we scored four. I certainly didn’t expect to finish eighth.
“At the start I lost a position to Nico [Hulkenberg], but got it back by going around the outside of him at Turn Three on the first lap, which was good fun. Once I got past Pastor [Maldonado], my race was basically about turning quali lap after quali lap: it was flat-out.
“That was tough – in fact it was pretty physical out there – but I really enjoyed it.
“I’m really happy for the team – we’ve worked hard to get into this position, and they deserve this. We have work to do, but this is a hugely positive step for us.”
