AFTER the first two practice sessions of the Chinese Grand Prix, McLaren’s Jenson Button looks well-placed to finish in the points.

He was the sixth fastest driver in both sessions, having set a time of 1:38.069 in Practice 1 and 1:36.432 in Practice 2, in front of Lewis Hamilton in the afternoon and far ahead of his Mexican teammate Sergio Perez in both sessions.

“We can’t yet conclusively tell if the upgrades we brought to this race have improved the car,” explained a doubtful Jenson Button. “They’re perhaps not as big a step forward as we’d expected - the issues with the car are still there - but the car does feel a little bit better.

“We’ve worked very hard over the last few weeks to bring the new parts here - which is great. Today’s been all about putting mileage on those parts. Now we need to sit down and look at the data this evening - there’s a lot to look through.”

In the first two races, Jenson Button has earned just two points – the same as Mexico’s Perez. It is his worst start to a season since 2008, when he drove for the Honda Racing F1 Team in the Honda RA108.

“I feel we’ll be using the Prime tyre quite a lot in the race,” the 33-year-old added. “The Option tyre transforms the car completely; over one lap, there’s a lot more grip, but then you start to lose time over each successive lap. My puncture happened after I’d already decided to pit. I got to the braking zone at Turn 14, locked up the front left and the tyre just punctured - there was a hole through it. It’s a good job that corner is just before the pits.”

Each year, for the last four seasons, Jenson Button has managed to jump on the podium in the first two races, but has struggled with an uncompetitive car so far this season.

However, he has typically performed well in China, finishing 2nd in the first ever Chinese Grand Prix for Lucky Strike BAR Honda in 2004.

He has finished in the top four since 2009. When he drove for Brawn GP, he finished 3rd, and won it in 2010 – his first year with McLaren. Last season, he drove to 2nd.

So despite it being one of Jenson’s stronger circuits, he had his reservations.

“I don’t think we’ll be fighting at the front this weekend, but we’ll definitely be fighting someone.”