Jenson Button has admitted that the aims for the McLaren-Honda team have had to change during the season, and believes getting a podium finish the team this season is now unlikely to happen, let alone the win they had hoped for.
Button had been optimistic ahead of the season that the team could be fighting for wins by the conclusion of 2015, but that optimism has not been backed up by the results nor the progress the whole team had been expecting.
Honda’s arrival back into Formula 1 with McLaren was one of the talking points of pre-season, but reliability and performance issues have limited both Button and team-mate Fernando Alonso to just two top-ten finishes all season so far.
McLaren currently sit down in ninth position in the Constructors’ Championship, ahead of only the Manor F1 Team, with Alonso’s fifth place in Hungary the best result of the season, and Button now believes getting both cars into the points should be the aim for the team.
“I think the aim is getting both cars in the points. A podium? It’s unlikely,” said Button. “For us, you have to think our best race is going to be Singapore; it’s a slow-speed circuit with low-speed corners which we’re very strong in.
“So that’s probably the race where we will pick up the most points I should think.”
