MONZA, Italy -- Jenson Button says McLaren can make Q3 at Monza despite the circuit being considered the team's weakest on the calendar.
McLaren recorded another encouraging day with both drivers in the top ten in FP2 -- Fernando Alonso finished seventh, Button tenth. It follows Button's strong qualifying performance and Alonso's drive to seventh at the Belgian Grand Prix last week.
Although Monza's long straights were expected to punish a Honda engine still lacking in power compared to its rivals, Button thinks Friday's pace suggests a Q3 challenge is on the cards.
Asked if the team could make Q3 on Saturday, he said: "It's possible. Today's pace... we're not doing anything different to what we normally do on a Friday, so it's definitely possible. The car is working reasonably well and my lap was pretty good until Kimi backed out of his in front and held me up for a couple of corners.
"So I'm pretty happy. The long run pace is alright, still needs some work until we're properly competitive and can fight for good points. Some work for this evening and hopefully we csn be a bit stronger for tomorrow, if we are we're looking alright."
Button admits McLaren could go either way with his set-up overnight.
"I think we probably are low downforce, we've taken quite a bit off. There's a lot of options for tomorrow and possblities and maybe we'll put downforce on and maybe we won't, it's still early to know."