Although Jenson Button ended the McLaren team’s 2015 points drought last time out in Monaco, ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix both McLaren drivers were cautious about their chances of a similarly strong showing in Montreal.
“[I expect] a slightly tougher weekend than Monaco,” said Button. “I think Monaco for us at the moment is a standout race.”
Team-mate Fernando Alonso however thought that points for the team still are possible: “For us in McLaren having the possibility to score points again will be good news,” he said.
“So hopefully after missing two opportunities to be in the points [in Barcelona and Monaco], hopefully the third one will be the good one.”
Yet while Honda has used two engine upgrade ‘tokens’ for this race, at a venue known for placing a premium on straightline speed, Button cautioned that “it’s more [about] efficiency than anything else”.
Alonso concurred: “The engine is exactly the same this weekend compared to Monaco. We did use two tokens but they are more for reliability reasons for some of the problems we faced recently.”
However there is some cause for optimism amongst the McLaren pilots as Canada often throws up an unpredictable race.
“Last year I started the second to last lap eighth and I finished fourth. Anything can happen here and it normally does,” he added. “We’ve just got to get stuck in and get on with our plan and see where we are.”
