McLaren, Button: “We need to work on race pace”

Both McLaren in the top ten on this first day of Free Practice atMonza racetrack.
The English team said it was satisfied overall both with its drivers on the track and with the excellent response to the updates from the single-seater. In the long runs the Woking car appeared weaker than its performance on the flying lap, but the team and drivers are confident ahead of the Italian weekend.

“There's still some work to do but overall it was a good day. Our single lap pace looks good, although we probably lose a bit of ground in race pace compared to other teams. On Fridays, however, it is always difficult to really understand where you are. As far as tire wear is concerned, I think we will have one or two pit stops,” he commented Button, second in the morning and sixth at the end of the day.

Fifth position in the morning and eighth place at the end of the day for Kevin Magnussen, who commented on his first day on the Monza circuit as follows: “Our speed in a straight line and braking seemed good to me so I think that in the race we will be able to be quite consistent with this car, which is very important on this circuit. We hope to be able to score a good result in Qualifying tomorrow, even if I prefer a good race pace to that in qualifying. On a low downforce circuit with important braking zones, where our car is usually quite strong, we should be able to bring home a good result this weekend."

Nina Stefanelli