Button was on course for sixth place finish

(McLaren Mercedes)

McLaren Mercedes Jenson Button was left wondering what might have been following his first retirement since the 2012 Korean Grand Prix in today's Singapore Grand Prix. The 2009 world champion, who is out of contract with McLaren at the end of the season made a good start to the race however had a very close call with team mate Kevin Magnussen right at the start of the race with the pair just about managing to avoid a collision.

Button was in 6th place fending off a charge from Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen when he retired from the race with a power box failure just eight laps from the end of the race.

Following the race, Button took to Twitter to say:

'Such a shame we didn't get a result today, felt like P6 was on the cards. Great job by the whole team in tough conditions, mega pitstops....'

Speaking following the race, McLaren Racing Director Eric Boullier was delighted with how Button had performed over the course of the race saying:

'For Jenson, who was driving exceptionally well in seventh place, cleverly optimising a tricky two-stop strategy, to be forced to retire with power box failure was an especially bitter blow.'

Kevin Magnussen finished the race in 10th place to score one point for the Woking based outfit who now fall to sixth place in the Constructors championship, 6 points behind Sahara Force India. Boullier went on to say:

'To score just a single World Championship point, after two hours’ toil in intense heat and humidity, is of course extremely disappointing for the entire team.'

Magnussen found the race extremely tough as he was forced to visit the medical centre for treatment after suffering bodily discomfort during the race as the cockpit in his MP4-29 was overheating. The Dane was as a result unable to drink anything as his drink boiled due to the temperature rise in the cockpit. Speaking following the race he said:

'It was a very, very tough grand prix, During the race, I don't know if there was something wrong with the car, but my seat started getting very hot, which made things extremely uncomfortable for me. Without that, I think we could have done better than 10th, but at least we got that one point. It's better than nothing.'

The Dane was also seen taking his hands out of the cockpit during the race as it appeared he was suffering from cramps in his fingers. 

The team head to the Japanese Grand Prix in two weeks time hoping to regain fifth place in the Constructors championship at a circuit where they have performed extremely well at in the past. Jenson Button took victory there for the Woking based outfit in 2011 so the team will hoping that they have a strong result there this season.

© Ben Johnston 2014