Jenson Button says he and his rivals "didn't know what to do" when approaching each other at Suzuka due to his car's massive lack of speed at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Honda's deployment issues, which have been a problem all season, were brutally exposed once again at its home race at Suzuka. Both Button and team-mate Fernando Alonso, who labelled the power unit a "GP2 engine" over radio during the race, were unable to fight other cars on the straights and through the high-speed 130R, with a lack of ERS accounting for around 160BHP.
Button said his car was so slow he was passed on every lap of the grand prix and he admitted the lack of pace made for a uneasy situation on track.
"When there is that much difference in speed, you don't know what to do," Button said. "You don't know when they will be there because the speed difference is so high and in the end you just back out... I had the same thing happen at 130R. It's the same for them, there is such a difference in speed they don't know whether to go down the inside or not. It made it tricky."
"On the last stint, if we were in front of Ericsson, we would have been fine because we were quicker and he was holding everyone up. Fernando was able to do his own race, so I would have been behind Fernando. As soon as Ericsson was in front of me, I can't overtake but they can overtake me really easily. So every lap I was getting passed or getting lapped."
Button thinks he could have finished higher than 16th with a better strategy.
"For me, the biggest issue was the second stop. We pitted late, so Ericsson was able to be in front of me and I was quicker than him. The problem is I can't overtake and then everyone comes from behind and can overtake me easily. I am a sitting duck. You are just waiting for everyone to overtake you. All race I was just behind Fernando and the last stint was looking good."
Asked about Alonso's "GP2 engine" comments, Button replied: "We have a lot of work to do. It is so tough for us because we are used to fighting at the front. We are so used to fighting, whereas now it is not fighting. It is like a samurai fighter without his armour and sword!"