Jenson Button believes that seventh place would have been possible at the Malaysian Grand Prix had it not been for an "unlucky" final Virtual Safety Car period.
Button finished ninth in Sepang but lost out during the last Virtual Safety Car, having pitted just two laps before the race was neutralised following Lewis Hamilton's dramatic retirement with an engine failure. Button had been ahead of McLaren teammate Fernando Alonso and Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, but ended up being jumped by both drivers when they effectively gained a free pit stop.
"It wasn't so bad but I was so unlucky with the Virtual Safety Car," he said. "The cars behind me were on three-stops, I was on a two-stop strategy and two laps after I pitted there was a Virtual Safety Car so they gained about 15s with that.
"I was actually fourth after a great start but Kimi and Max just out-dragged me easily. It was looking OK, Hulkenberg and Fernando, behind me, were going for three stops, I was going for two and it was all looking good but then the Virtual Safety Car came out two laps after I pitted and that was it."
The Briton struggled for pace on older tyres than Alonso and Hulkenberg in the latter stages in Malaysia. He was left to rue the missed opportunity to score more points and says he hopes his fortunes turn around in the final five grands prix of the season.
"Right at the end I simply wasn't that quick as my tyres were older than those of the cars in front. Hopefully for the last five races I'll be a bit luckier as I've been a bit unlucky with strategies recently. It's a shame but I seem to be, in the last few races, with no luck on my side.
"The pace wasn't that great but I was still looking good for seventh place until the last VSC. Two stops is a better strategy but if there's a VSC at the right time for the others, then there's nothing you can do. We can just put this behind us and move forward."