With less than ideal results on Friday and Saturday, Honda expected a difficult Japanese Grand Prix, and this was proved with neither McLaren-Honda driver reaching the points.
Jenson Button started the Grand Prix at the Suzuka International Racing Course in twenty-second with Fernando Alonso starting in fifteenth. With both drivers at the back of the grid, it was harder for them to gain the places with them battling at the back of the field. In the end Button only managed to finish in eighteenth with Alonso finishing in sixteenth.
Yusuke Hasegawa, Executive Chief Engineer at Honda confirms these results are disappointing for the team but they will now accept these results so they can move forward to hopefully score points at the United States Grand Prix.
“We expected a difficult race today, as the results of Friday and Saturday were less than ideal,” said Hasegawa. “The Suzuka circuit is a very difficult place at which to gain positions unless you start from a good grid slot.
“Also, we weren’t able to gain places at the start, so, for the majority of the race, both drivers had to battle at the back of the field, and weren’t close to the points-scoring positions. In this long F1 calendar, we have good and bad results that we have to cope with, but the results of this weekend were very disappointing, especially knowing that there were so many fans here to support us.
“We will accept the results today, analyse the data, regroup and hope to return to scoring points at the next race, in the USA.”
