Jenson Button said the summer break has come at the right time for McLaren Mercedes after finishing tenth at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
A typically unpredictable wet-to-dry grand prix that resulted in an edge-of-the-seat climax involving three drivers, with Daniel Ricciardo scoring a sensational win as Brit Lewis Hamilton recovered from a pitlane start to finish third.
Button – whose first Formula 1 victory came at Hungaroring in 2006 – started in seventh spot but a misleading weather forecast prompted his team to remain on Intermediate tyres while the rest of the field pitted behind the safety car for Options.
With the chance of rain diminishing, both Button and team-mate Kevin Magnussen lost ground after pitting for dry-weather tyres – a decision that dictated McLaren's performance for the remainder of the grand prix.
A scheduled mid-race switch to the Prime tyre failed to bring pace to their races, and the pair and Kevin established themselves in tenth and 12th places respectively until the chequer.
"I'm glad it was an exciting race for the fans, but it was a tough afternoon for us," said Button. "We didn't make the right decisions today.
"The opening laps in the rain were great. I got up into fifth – which wasn't a bad position for us – but it went downhill from there. As the track started to dry, we thought it was going to rain again – unfortunately, however, we were the only ones thinking that.
"I feel like I did everything right, and in every track condition, which is why it's tough – but we win as a team and we lose as a team, and we'll quickly put this behind us and move on.
"It's the perfect time for the summer break – obviously, we're not where we want to be, but we've had some positive results, and the whole team has worked incredibly hard throughout this first half of the season.
"I hope that everybody can get the chance to recharge their batteries before we embark on what we hope will be a better half of the season."
McLaren racing director Eric Boullier said: "Formula 1 put on a great show for its fans today – but, unfortunately, it wasn't a great afternoon for the team.
"We worked hard to make the most of the tricky conditions at the start of the race – but it didn't go our way. That's frustrating, but, equally, that's racing – it happens sometimes. We made the wrong call, but, in such a topsy-turvy race weather-wise, sometimes there are some very narrow margins involved.
"If things had panned out differently, we may have had a good afternoon – but we don't dwell on the maybes. We'll learn from this experience, and we'll move on. We tried our best today but it just didn't work out for us – that's a shame for both Jenson and Kevin, because they both drove very well in some difficult circumstances.
"This isn't a great reward for the team after a lot of hard work, but we'll regroup over the summer, learn from our mistakes, and work hard to improve our fortunes for the second half of the season. There are positives to take away from many of our performances this year, but areas where we can still work harder.
"I want to wish the whole team a restful and relaxing summer vacation, and we'll come back ready to work even harder to return McLaren to the front."
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