Yusuke Hasegawa was happy to see both McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team drivers finish in the top ten at the United States Grand Prix.
The Executive Chief Engineer for Honda admitted that it was extremely difficult for the team to predict where they would finish based on their qualifying results, with Fernando Alonso qualifying in twelfth and Jenson Button in nineteenth.
Alonso pushed himself until the very last lap, ending the Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in fifth, with Button performing strongly throughout the race as well to finish in ninth, leading to a double point finish for McLaren.
These results are important to the Woking based outfit after a tough home Grand Prix in Suzuka where neither driver finished within the points, and Hasegawa believes their finish in Austin is a great result to bring back the momentum to the team.
“It was a good United States Grand Prix for us today,” said Hasegawa. “Before the start it was extremely difficult for us to predict where we would be at the end of the race based on the qualifying results yesterday, but we knew that our race pace would be better and stable.
“Today, both of our drivers proved why they’re worthy world champions. It was good to see such strong driving, and undying racing spirit from both. Fernando pushed hard until the last lap, enabling him to finish in P5 behind the Ferrari, and a brilliant push from Jenson saw him gain 10 places to finish in P9. A double points finish is a great result to bring momentum back to the team.”
