Jenson Button says he is feeling no added pressure ahead of his Formula 1 return in Monaco, after McLaren failed to score a point in the opening five races.
The British driver took a step away from F1 at the end of 2016, but he is back behind the wheel this weekend in Monaco to replace Fernando Alonso – who is competing in the Indianapolis 500.
After a tough start to the last race weekend in Spain, Alonso qualified an encouraging seventh. He failed to finish in the top 10 in the race, in part due to being forced wide on lap one.
Sauber scored points at Barcelona, meaning McLaren is the only team yet to do so. Monaco is seen as McLaren’s best opportunity to get a top 10 result but Button is not feeling any extra pressure.
“Definitely not,” he said, when asked if there is a lot of pressure on his shoulders to score. “I’m very relaxed. Very excited, actually.
“It’s interesting coming back for one grand prix. It being Monaco it's very special. I’ve won here before, I’ve lived here for 17 years, and I’ve had some really good experiences here. It’s exciting. But I don’t feel any pressure – none at all.
“I will obviously get in the car and I will do the best job I can, that’s what I’m here to do and everything I do in life is the same: you want to be competitive, you want to get the best out of yourself and you want to get the best out of the equipment and the team that you are working with.
“That hasn’t changed. The car seemed to be working well in Barcelona in qualifying. Fernando did a good job. I think it still proves that the car itself is working well.
“I drove it in the simulator and I drove the upgrade. It was a definite improvement and there are more improvements here as well.
“If it’s all straightforward this weekend, we should be reasonably competitive.”
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