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F1 Malaysian GP: Button scores in 300th race but unhappy with ninth

Jenson Button believes he could have finished seventh in the Malaysian Grand Prix had he not been caught out by three Virtual Safety Car periods as he finished his 300th race behind last-place starting Fernando Alonso.

Flying the flag for McLaren-Honda in qualifying after Alonso's grid penalties consigned him to the back of the field, Button - in his landmark 300th race - got away from well ninth and avoided the first turn skirmish to run fourth initially before settling in sixth early on.

However, having committed to a two-stop strategy, Button was frustrated to have the three-stopping cars helped along by Virtual Safety Car periods that allowed them to make an extra stop without as much hindrance.

Prompting him to slip to ninth, though Button was content with points - for only the sixth time he has reached the top ten this season -, he was frustrated to lose out on what he felt was a clean run to seventh, where Alonso finished.

"I was so unlucky with the Virtual Safety Car. The cars behind me were on three-stops, I was on a two-stops strategy and two laps after I pitted there was a Virtual Safety Car so they gained about 15s with that. It's a shame but I seem to be, in the last few races, with no luck on my side.

"Hopefully for the last five races I'll be a bit luckier as I've been a bit unlucky with strategies recently.
The pace wasn't that great but I was still looking good for 7th place until the last VSC. Two stops is a better strategy but if there's a VSC at the right time for the others, then there's nothing you can do. We can just put this behind us and move forward."

Zdroj: crash.net