Jenson Button insists that he and Lewis Hamilton did the right thing in missing the Mugello test.
Although some of McLaren’s rivals were baffled by the team’s decision to use testers Gary Paffett and Oliver Turvey for the three days of testing, Button says that there was little to gain by him being there.
“The real reason [for missing the test] was the correlation between the simulator and the car, and most of our testing is in the simulator,” he explained.
“To get a correlation with the test drivers is so important; to make sure we are going on the right path with the simulator and the parts that we test.
“When we put them on the computer and the simulator they work fine, because you are putting in the right numbers for it to work, although sometimes when you get on to the circuit that part might not work correctly.
“We have to make sure the wind tunnel, simulator and circuit all correlate, so it was a very important test form that point of view.”
Button thinks that as well as not losing anything by not being there, the team will ultimately benefit from having the test drivers do it because it will help advance its simulation work.
“From Lewis and my point of view, we wouldn’t have learned anything driving around Mugello,” he said. “It will not help us this year.
“We know how to drive a racing car and we feel that the new parts can be tested by the test drivers.
“I don’t think we have lost out: in fact we have actually gained for later in the season because it is important that our test drivers who do most of the testing in the simulator do really understand where the car is. So I think everyone else is wrong!!”
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