Button gets McLaren points as software issue stops Alonso
Fernando Alonso's home race didn't turn out to be highlight for him, as he was rued wondering what could have been without team orders and engine issues. Jenson Button meanwhile managed to take points for McLaren, despite struggling throughout the race.
“My car felt okay this afternoon," said the Spaniard, "but I didn’t manage to make a good start and lost everything – so my race was effectively over by the first corner.
“After that, I followed Jenson for 50 laps and had traffic all race long, so I wasn’t able to do too many laps in free air or show my true pace. I was asked to stay behind him by the team, so I stayed there.
“At the end, I lost power and I had to park the car at turn 3."
Jenson Button had a completely different story to tell. He was happy with his getaway, but less so with his car.
“I had a great start – it must’ve been the best getaway out there! But it wasn’t a very easy race for me.
There was no grip at all out there – and, whatever we did, we struggled. But, equally, the leaders weren’t very quick at the end, which made it really difficult for me to manage the situation because Dany [Kvyat] was right behind Seb [Vettel] and Daniel Ricciardo, and he was on fresh rubber. Fortunately, I was just quick enough to stay ahead of those cars, and he couldn’t jump me.
“We knew it was going to be difficult to score points here, so this result wasn’t too bad.”
Fortunately for McLaren and Alonso, the team worked out that Alonso's DNF was caused by a software issue that most likely did not cause any structure damage to the engine.
“It was a bittersweet end to an eventful Spanish Grand Prix", confirmed Yusuke Hasegawa, Honda's head of F1 project.
"Fernando’s retirement was caused by a software command issue that stopped the ICE. We think that the power unit as a whole is not damaged from this incident, but we will continue to investigate the effects of this stop. Obviously we will work with the team to see how this kind of situation can be avoided in the races going forward.
“Jenson started brilliantly, but, on the whole, it was a long and difficult race for him, trying to save tyres while fending off the competition and maintaining position. Therefore, it was a pleasure to see him finish in the points after a difficult weekend.”
