Last place now a triumph for Jenson Button, McLaren

Melbourne: McLaren`s Jenson Button on Sunday said just finishing the Australian Grand Prix was a triumph of sorts as he remained upbeat despite coming in 11th and last.

The three-time race winner wound up just outside the points for McLaren, but it was a starting point after a torrid time wrestling with an unresponsive car.

Button was the only McLaren runner after Kevin Magnussen, standing in for Fernando Alonso, went out with a billowing exhaust on the reconnaissance lap.

Button put a positive slant on McLaren`s underwhelming first race of the year, which followed a woeful pre-season including Alonso`s crash and concussion in Barcelona.

"Today has been a good day. We`re still a long way off, but this is a good starting point -- and I enjoyed the race," he said.

"Today also really helps in terms of development: if we`d done three laps, we`d have learned nothing, so we`ve learned a massive amount by completing a race distance.

"It was also a good opportunity for me to get used to the car and to play around with it, making adjustments in the cockpit.

"There`s a lot of work still needed -- on power, driveability, downforce and set-up -- but we can make big strides."

It is a big come-down for a proud team that has won 182 races, 12 drivers` championships and eight constructors` titles, to find itself among the F1 strugglers this season.

"It`s been a tough winter -- our longest run in testing was just 12 laps, so today`s 58-lap run was a good step forward," Button said.

"But we know we`ve got a lot of work to do. But, with all of today`s learning, there are many areas we can improve for the next race in Malaysia."