Jenson Button believes a new rule preventing Formula 1 drivers from discarding visor tear-offs during a grand prix is “a bit silly” but will soon be adapted to.
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McLaren’s duo of champion drivers on Wednesday cautioned against unrealistic optimism ahead of this weekend’s classic blue riband Monaco Grand Prix.
Button said: “I think you have to aim for better than what we had a year ago”.
Drivers had been resigned to experimenting with ways to store the strips in the cockpits, or on pouches on their overalls, in a bid to store them during the race. “With the first race being Monaco where you have to put it inside the vehicle and not let go of it is tricky for everyone”.
After outqualifying Button, Vandoorne went on to score McLaren’s first points of the year by finishing 10th at the Sakhir circuit.
Button, however, could partly understand the decision given team-mate Fernando Alonso had suffered two failures in the past year after a tear-off strip had lodged in the brake duct of his vehicle. It’s not a safety issue because teams see the brakes getting very hot, which means you have to retire. “None of us really like it, but it’s like the HANS device, no driver liked that, it wasn’t comfortable, but after one race you forgot about it, you dealt with it, and we will [with this]”.
The FIA accepted that such a situation would not be ideal, so teams have now been informed of a change of stance for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Button, a strong advocate for the introduction of a canopy protection device to deflect such debris at cockpit level, escaped without too much outcome other than damage to the auto, but says it is an incident that alarmed him around a venue that has otherwise showcased high standards for safety in the past.
“We have different solutions that we will find tomorrow”.
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“As such he’s an integral part of McLaren-Honda’s future, and any other team that imagines they may be able to poach him away from us is very much mistaken. When we do the pitstop, this ten seconds when we are at 60km/h is the ideal opportunity to do all these things”.
