Jenson Button feels it may be possible for McLaren-Honda to break into the top ten shootout in qualifying on Saturday after a positive day at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza on Friday.
The Briton was eleventh in first practice before advancing one position into the top ten in the second practice, and feels the short run pace is looking promising, although Button admits the longer runs are still to be worked on.
“It could be possible to get into Q3 tomorrow: we didn’t do anything different today to what we normally do on a Friday, so it’s definitely possible,” said Button.
“The car’s working reasonably well – I’m pretty happy. Long-run pace still needs some work if we’re to fight for points, but if we can get on top of it, we should be looking all right.”
Button took to the track for the first time in FP1 with the Halo head protection system, and felt that he had no issues with it, although he felt it was strange to have something in his eye line.
“The halo trial this morning was okay – there were no major issues with it,” said Button. “Perhaps it could be a little more difficult to see the lights on the start-line and in the pit-stops, but there are still so many possibilities to move things around.
“It feels a little strange: at 200mph, instead of focusing on the next corner, you’re focusing on something dead ahead of your eyes – which can make you a little cross-eyed.”
