Button: “I enjoyed driving the car today”

In home McLaren it was a race below expectations, in fact Jenson Button had declared that the team could have aspired to a place on the podium but unfortunately only sixth place arrived. As for Sergio Perez, however, the Mexican finished in eleventh place, paying for the risk of a single stop at the end, being overtaken by the Australian from Toro Rosso, Daniel Ricciardo.

Jenson Button – sixth: “We wanted to try a one-stop strategy, but we had to adapt to the two-stop strategy over the course of the race. We wanted to try the single pit stop but our pace wasn't up to it and if we had continued we would have lost many positions towards the end of the race. Having said that it was a decent race for us, and as always it was great to drive at this magnificent circuit, I really enjoyed driving the car today. In terms of performance there has been a small but obvious improvement, so we must be happy with the progress made. I'm happy with the feeling I have with the car now, of course we still need to improve in terms of pace but the good thing is that we know which areas we need to focus on to improve. I'm looking forward to Monza – another great circuit – and hopefully we can take another step forward. We certainly won't fight for victory, we know that, but we will focus on ourselves to gradually understand the car and improve things progressively. There are still many Grands Prix this season and I'm sure we will have fun in some of them."

Sergio Perez – eleventh: “My race started very well. I gained a couple of positions at the start and then gained more in the first 10 laps and things were looking positive for us. I was happy with the balance of the car and we were on a good strategy. Then came the drive-through, and so it became very difficult to even fight for a point. What happened with Romain was unfortunate. I was in front of him and preparing for the corner, but now I understand the reason for the penalty and I'm disappointed for myself and for the team. These things are always difficult, but the Mclaren spirit is very strong and we are very united. We simply have to move forward. What we have to do is think about Monza and do our best to recover the points lost here in Spa."

Martin Whitmarsh, team principal: “Jenson made a brilliant start going from sixth to third after the first corner, and finished the race just 13 seconds off the podium. At one point we considered the possibility of doing a one-stop for him and maybe if we did that we could get the podium. However, things didn't go as we wanted but as I already said he ran an excellent race and the eight points obtained are well deserved and allow us to move up to fifth place in the constructors' standings. Clearly fifth place is not where we expected to be but it is one position higher than the starting grid. As for Checo, he will be disappointed with what happened with Romain, he should have gotten some points too. So we are a little disappointed but at the same time we are pleased with the small improvements in terms of pace. We are not yet where we want but we are clearly in the right direction. We can't wait to go to Italy where we hope to have further improvements also in terms of results. Having said that, we never underestimate our opponents and we are happy about our chances. Nonetheless, we will do our utmost to improve at Monza, a unique track where the environment creates something truly special."

Stefano Rifici