Jenson Button is hoping to score points during Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in what is likely to be his last Grand Prix before his sabbatical, which he has hinted will ultimately turn into retirement.
The McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team racer will start the race at the Yas Marina Circuit from twelfth on the grid, and feels it may be beneficial to start outside the top ten as it will give him a free choice of tyre to start with, which has been shown to be advantageous this season with drivers profiting with top ten results.
“It was good fun out there this evening – I enjoyed it,” said Button. “As the track cooled down, we needed to balance the car up with more front-end grip, but didn’t have anything left in the car, so the resulting understeer cost me a little bit of time.
“To be fair, however, 12th position isn’t a bad place to be for tomorrow: we get to run new tyres. With these tyre regulations, it’s often better to start outside the top 10 in order to best free up the strategy for the race. And I’d definitely rather have a good race tomorrow than a good qualifying today.
“None of the compounds last for long around here, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens tomorrow – points are definitely possible.”
