Button lowers expectations on McLaren upgrades

Jenson Button has played down the significance of McLaren’s upgrade package that will arrive in time for the Spanish Grand Prix.

McLaren have so far struggled to get to grips with the new MP4-28 car designed especially for the new 2013 Formula One World Championship season.

Despite finishing 2012 strongly with last seasons MP4-27, McLaren opted to go into the new season with a newly designed car. It was a strategy not adopted by other teams, such as Red Bull, who decided instead to just evolve with their last car due to the limited regulation changes for the new season.

McLaren always knew that they would probably start the season slowly, but with a new car, they’d have more room to develop the car throughout the season.

That first major development comes in the form of a big upgrade package in Barcelona. McLaren have previously stated how important this upgrade package was if the team wanted to get back onto a firm footing to recover from their poor results during the opening races of the season, but now lead McLaren driver Jenson Button appears to be playing down expectations.

‘There’ll be elements that work, elements that perhaps work in a different way than anticipated and elements that don’t work. That’s life.’ he told the BBC.

But while the 2009 Formula One World Champion might be trying to limit expectations with his pragmatic response to questions, he knows that if he is to put together a title challenge this season the McLaren team does need to start making huge steps forward and quickly.

‘It’s been difficult for the team to make consistent progress in the first four races, but I think returning to a circuit where we undertook two of the pre-season tests will give us a useful benchmark for our progress so far.

‘There’s been a lot of talk about the importance of next weekend’s upgrades but, as with every upgrade, they’re simply part of the series of continuous improvements that are made across the season.’

‘Of course, I’m hopeful that it’ll move us a step closer to the destination.’