McLaren: Button, “We need to improve our pace with options”

McLaren – The team worked on the aero controls during this morning's run – in order to provide data and information for the 2015 car. In the afternoon, engineers turned their attention to the set-up for the weekend. The car responded well with the Prime tyres, particularly during the morning session, but a little less so with the options in FP2.

Jenson Button: “Our car sometimes struggles in windy conditions, as has happened: it is much more difficult to be precise when driving in the wind. It's in the slower corners that we're most affected – like the start of sector three. And it was certainly very windy today – especially in the afternoon. Problems with our wheelbase with Option tires can be solved. For some drivers, the softer rubber immediately suits the balance of their car; for others, this is not the case. That was the case with our car too this afternoon – but we can work on that. We'll get to that in tomorrow's work. With my grid penalty for changing the gearbox, it will be a difficult weekend. This is not an easy place to overtake, but we will do our best.”
 
Kevin Magnussen: “This is my first time at the Circuit of the Americas, and it's a good track. It has a unique first corner, and the fast corners in the first sector are particularly interesting. I think overtaking should be possible around here, so I hope I can have an enjoyable race. Today's test showed that we seem to be stronger with the Prime tires compared to the options. We will work on this overnight.”
 
JENSON BUTTON
MP4-29-04
FP1 1m40.319s (+ 0.378s) 27 laps Pos 3
FP2 1m40.698s (+ 1.613s) 36 laps POs 9

Kevin Magnussen
MP4-29-01
FP1 1m40.987s (+ 1.046s) 29 laps Pos 5
FP2 1m40.641s (+ 1.556s) 38 laps Pos 8