McLaren aren’t concerned with Jenson Button’s gearbox after the Brit reported difficulties shifting during the Japanese Grand Prix.
Button eventually finished fourth, but in the closing stages of the race, reported over the radio that his car was going into neutral and wasn’t shifting smoothly.
Team principal Martin Whitmarsh though revealed that the issue most likely surrounds the overheating of a sensor at the rear of the car following a brake fire during his first pit-stop.
“At the first stop you may have noticed a brake fire on the rear right, so it was really, really hot,” explained Whitmarsh.
“That was defaulting some of the sensors at the rear wheels so, after that stop, we started to have that problem.
“After the second stop, I thought we were about to creep into the same area but he wasn’t in traffic at the second stop and it managed to cool down.
“It [the gearbox trouble] was a problem with the smooth shifting of the gears but probably only as a consequence of the sensors being overheated on the right rear hub.”
McLaren have had two gearbox failures in as many races which have seen them lose a handful of points to their competitiors.
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