‘Tough’ and ‘tricky’ time for McLaren duo

They could see the funny side after another disastrous day at Interlagos, but Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button remain frustrated with McLaren's form.

After a disastrous Mexican Grand Prix where he failed to take part in qualifying and completed only one lap on race day following an engine problem, Alonso was once again unable to post a lap time in quali in Brazil on Saturday.

Yet another problem with his power unit forced him to park his car but instead of rushing back to the paddock, the Spaniard decided to sunbathe next to the track.

He and Button later decided to have some fun by posing on the podium as they "will not get close again".

Despite taking the mickey out of themselves, Alonso is frustrated by the current situation.

"This is a tough period. After I didn’t take part in the Mexican Grand Prix, and then missed out entirely on qualifying here in Brazil, well, there’s a degree of frustration, obviously," he said. "But we understand our situation, and we need to learn from all our mistakes and put everything in place so as not to repeat them next year. 

"I think all our weaknesses are being identified, however. The actions we’re taking are logical and sensible, so I’m still optimistic, even though here and even Abu Dhabi are going to be difficult for us."

Button managed to take part in qualifying, but he was knocked out in Q1.

"It’s been a tricky weekend, and I’ve struggled with the car," he said. "Having said that, it began to work much better in qualifying. It was much more enjoyable to drive than it was this morning, when we had less aero balance. 

"Moreover, the car is definitely set up for the race; I still don’t know how competitive we’ll be, because deployment is going to be a big issue here, but we’ll give it a go and we’ll see what we end up with. 

"I’m hoping for a wet race. If it rains it will open up more opportunities, and we’ll hopefully capitalise on it. I’m looking forward to it. Speaking more generally, it’s been a tough season. But, even so, we’ve had a lot of support, and it’s meant a lot to us – to me personally – and I want to reassure the fans that we’re all in it together and we’ll work through it together too."