Jenson Button believes eighth position was "as good as it was going to get" in Hockenheim at a circuit McLaren were expecting to struggle at, but was satisifed to beat both Williams cars across the line.
The McLaren driver made a brilliant start to jump two places before managing to climb another place during the race and then finally a last-minute overtake on the Williams of Valtteri Bottas saw the Briton claim eighth and four points.
"I made a very good start and made up most of the places there," explained Button. "After that, it was just about looking after the tyres, which were degrading faster than we’d expected.
Both McLarens struggled with fuel and were seen backing off and coasting through much of the final laps, which caught Button out.
"We also had to do a fair amount of fuel-saving, too, particularly in the last 10 laps. In fact, I went off the circuit towards the end, just because I was doing so much fuel-saving that I hit the brakes and they were just stone cold. I hadn’t even been braking hard.
"At the end, I was able to pick off Valtteri, who was struggling on his tyres. It feels satisfying to have beaten both Williams, but eighth was as good as it was going to get today – we were 20 seconds behind the car in front, and there’s still quite a bit to go before we catch those guys."
Despite the gap to those ahead, which consisted of two Mercedes, two Red Bulls, two Ferraris and a Force India, Button admitted the team are making "good progress" as they seek to score points at the final nine races of the season.
"We’ve made good progress: we’re consistently fighting in the points, and the team are doing a great job this year, bringing something new to pretty much every single race. I want to say thank-you and well done to the whole team for their efforts.
“I’m looking forward to coming back and fighting after the summer break – but, right now, I’m looking forward to a holiday!"
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