Jenson Button says he has “unfinished business” with Honda which he hopes “to put right” this time round with the McLaren-Honda partnership.
The Briton raced for the Japanese team between 2003 and 2008 and tasted victory just once in 2006 when he won the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Following that victory, the team failed to get higher than eighth in the championship and pulled out of the sport, leading to Button’s championship glory with Brawn GP the following year.
The 35-year-old hopes to put things right now that he’s racing with the manufacturer once again following their decision to return as an engine supplier exclusively with the McLaren team.
“We didn’t get the results together in ’07 and ’08,” he said on Tuesday. “So there’s a lot for us to achieve and to put right, if you like, of working together. There is a lot of unfinished business.”
The partnership hasn’t had the greatest of starts with Button and team-mate Fernando Alonso completing just 79 laps between them over four days in Jerez.
Button however says it’s unfair to judge the situation without truly understanding what is happening behind the scenes and the effort from both McLaren and Honda to be competitive in 2015.
“They have their targets, and they understand what other people are getting out of their engines, and the strengths and weaknesses of those cars. It’s not like the engine had been driven for three years before the test, and as you know in Formula One, the cars are only just ready for the first run in winter testing.
“Everything arrives at the last moment because you are trying to get everything out of the car and engine before you arrive at that test,” he added.
“I’m sure it baffles a lot of people when you see a car turn up at the first test and drive out of the garage at 11am and not 9am. Why couldn’t you start two hours earlier? It’s because you are always trying to maximise the winter and arrive at the first test with the best possible package, and that’s why it sometimes starts a little late.”
