Jenson Button has admitted his rookie team-mate, Stoffel Vandoorne – who prior to this weekend had never driven the car – did a better job than him in Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying.
Vandoorne is currently standing in for the injured Fernando Alonso and got his first taste of the MP4-31 during Friday practice and has gradually grown in confidence behind the wheel.
Speaking about his own performance, which will see him start 12th for Sunday's race, the Belgian said: "I think I can be pretty happy with today’s result. I didn’t really know what to expect, but from yesterday onwards I’ve felt quite confident in the car and today was all about fine-tuning it.
"I knew after yesterday and this morning that I had quite similar pace to Jenson, and that if I improved a little bit I could maybe therefore challenge him. He’s a world champion, and an excellent driver obviously, so he’s been a really good benchmark for me this weekend. I have a lot of respect for him."
Meanwhile Button praised the 24-year-old for doing a "very good job", whilst admitting he hadn't done so well after finishing 14th fastest having struggled with oversteer.
"The car has been really good all weekend: I’ve been mostly struggling with a bit of understeer, but, for my Q2 run, we came up a tiny bit on the front wing, and the car was the complete opposite – big oversteer," explained Button.
"Oversteer is not something I particularly like – so I wasn’t very happy with my Q2 lap. Having said that, Stoffel did a good job today, and I didn’t do such a good job.
"He’s very competitive, he’s quick, he’s won here before, and I think he’s proven how good he is around a place like this. We knew how quick he could be – especially over one lap. He’s been a big part of this team for the past couple of years, and as I say he did a really good job."
