Jenson Button fears McLaren will qualify at the very back of the grid for Sunday ’ s Australian Grand Prix . The British driver and his team-mate Kevin Magnussen , who is deputising for the injured Fernando Alonso , endured a miserable day during practice for the season opener at the Albert Park Circuit . The McLaren pair , hampered by reliability problems to their new Honda engine , managed only 13 laps between them in Friday ’ s opening session and were five seconds down on Nico Rosberg ’ s best time for Mercedes . Jenson Button cut a frustrated figure in Melbourne on Friday as McLaren struggled for pace and reliability . Button was almost four seconds slower than Nico Rosberg , who set the pace for Mercedes on Friday . And while Button managed to get more running under his belt during the second session , completing 21 laps , he was still almost four seconds down on the front-running Mercedes . Magnussen posted four laps before losing control of his McLaren at Turn Six and crashing into the barriers . Backmarkers Manor , who didn ’ t compete at any of the winter tests , failed to take to the track on Friday , and Button fears a similar no-show tomorrow will see McLaren bring up the rear for Sunday ’ s curtain raiser in Melbourne . Kevin Magnussen loses control of his McLaren at Turn Six and runs into the gravel before crashing out . The Dane did n't take any further part in the session with his car in bits before it was taken back to the garage . ‘ I am hoping it won ’ t be the last row of the grid , ’ said Button , a three-time winner in Melbourne , when asked about his hopes for qualifying . ‘ Hopefully 20 cars will run . It won ’ t be easy and we all know it . We are working as one and we are not pointing any fingers . We are just solving the problems as we go . Hopefully we will be competitive sooner rather than later. ’ McLaren , powered by Honda for the first time since 1992 , had a pre-season to forget as they struggled for pace and reliability . And getting to the chequerd flag on Sunday will now be considered a positive result for a team which hasn ’ t tasted victory in over two years . ‘ I have no goals in terms of position , ’ said Button . ‘ The important thing is to make sure we maximise everything we have and then look at timesheets in qualifying and the race , see how we fared , and how much work we have to do. ’ McLaren are powered by Honda this year , but face an uphill struggle and may bring up the rear in Melbourne .
ben Button and team - mate Kevin Magnussen were well off the grid . They were four laps slower than mark Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton . And ##son ##ny petty will bring up the rear in qualifying . McLaren are also struggling for reliability and may not make the podium .