Jenson Button believes that McLaren should be pleased with the progress made during qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix, despite bowing out in Q1 at Sepang.

The British driver and teammate Fernando Alonso finished 17th and 18th respectively, but the former world champion is more optimistic about their performance than in Australia two weeks ago.

The 35-year-old is quoted by BBC Sport as saying: "It is a lot closer than in Australia and I think our race pace is better than our qualifying pace.

"We should be happy with the step taken, but there is still a long way to go."

Button previously won the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2009 with Brawn, but a top-10 finish would be deemed as a success on Sunday.