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Button pessimistic for opening GP
2011-03-09 00:22:31
Jenson Button believes McLaren will not be able to challenge rivals Red Bull and Ferrari at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on 27 March.
Button was 0.366 seconds behind Mark Webber's top time of one minute 22.544 seconds for Red Bull at testing.
Ferrari sat out the opening day of the final test at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Button said: "I'd be surprised if we can match Red Bull and Ferrari when we get to Melbourne. It's a big ask. To be on their pace is going to be tricky."
McLaren had conceded before the final pre-season test began at the Circuit de Catalunya that they were lagging behind their chief rivals.
After a lack of spare parts during their first outing in Jerez - where they launched the MP4-26 - and more reliability problems at the last Barcelona test, another protracted spell in the garage was not what McLaren or Button needed.