Neither Button nor his team-mate Rubens Barrichello [finished] in the top 10 in Melbourne. In fact the two Honda drivers were roughly three seconds a lap off the pace set by Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. In a bid to rectify the situation, Honda introduced new parts including aero upgrades to the RA107 during their four-day test in Malaysia this week. However, although Button says there was a slight improvement, he doesn’t foresee Honda suddenly challenging for the race win in next weekend’s Malaysian GP. “This was a very important test as we struggled a bit in Melbourne,” he told Autosport. “There were a lot of new parts here, mainly aero parts, and we have definitely made an improvement. But it did not solve all the problems. We still have a long way to go, so it may not change the outcome a great deal in the race. We got a bit better, but then again this circuit is a braking track like Melbourne.”
“We have run through a lot of test items this week, mainly with new aero parts, trying to resolve some of the issues we had in Australia. The car definitely works better around the Sepang circuit, partly because braking stability is not as important here but also because we have made some improvements over the week. We have by no means solved everything yet and there is a long way to go but we have made a small step in the right direction. The weather has been up and down over my test days so I’ve also had the chance to experience some wet testing for the first time in the RA107 car.”
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