Jenson Button heads to the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain, knowing that he was only one tenth off making it through to the final part of qualifying last time out in Russia, and the Brit will be hoping to go one better in Barcelona and push to make that Q3 cut.
For both drivers to finish in the points at the Sochi Autodrom was a huge positive for the Woking based squad, and with a rather substantial upgrade package to evaluate ahead of the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, Button is confident they can improve further still.
“It’s exciting to start the European season off the back of a positive race for the whole team in Sochi,” said Button. “There’s definitely a feeling in the camp that we’re making progress, so I’m hopeful that we can continue this momentum in Barcelona.
“It’s always exciting to come back to Europe for the first race in Spain. The fans are always incredibly enthusiastic, and there’s a very familiar feel at this circuit as we spend so much more time there than in other places.
“We have some more new parts to test on the car again for this race, so I hope we can see another positive step in our performance over the weekend.”
Bubbling over with motivation and high spirits following the team’s strong result in Russia, the McLaren F1 squad are hoping the start of the European season will signal the beginning of their move forwards up the grid, as the F1 paddock heads to circuits where the MP4-31 should in theory, be stronger than it has been up until now.
