A disappointed Fernando Alonso feels McLaren simply didn't have the pace to challenge for points at the Chinese GP.
Heading into qualifying the Woking squad were eyeing spots in Q3, but had to settle for 11th and 12th on the grid after a red flag forced them to abort their final qualifying runs.
Despite chaos ahead in the race, McLaren couldn't hold onto any positions they gained at the start, finishing 12th and 13th at the chequered flag.
"We didn't have the pace today to be in the points. That is a shame. We need to improve for the next round," Alonso told Sky Sports F1.
"The Safety Car didn't help, but even after the Safety Car we were not quick enough in the race and we need to go into the details of what we can improve."
The result means McLaren have still only scored one point in 2016, and that was picked up by reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne in Bahrain where he deputised for Alonso.
However, the Spaniard is still taking positives away from Shanghai.
"We ran with a lot of people today so we probably have a good reference now to where the strongest points of our car are and where the weaknesses are that we need to improve," Alonso added.
"It is a useful race and my first long run to be honest, in winter testing we never did 50 laps and in Australia I had the accident and in Bahrain I didn't participate."
In the sister car, Button is hoping the post-race analysis will show they went the wrong way on strategy, otherwise he agrees with Alonso that their pace isn't good enough.
"We tried to do a two-stop, but it didn't look like it was ever going to work, maybe our pace just isn't good enough or maybe it was the wrong choice of tyre, we will have to look at that," Button told Sky Sports F1.
"Hopefully we have made the wrong strategy call putting on the medium because if we haven't then we aren't quick enough to be in the points at the moment because nothing else went wrong. So I am hoping that that was the wrong choice."
The Shanghai International Circuit boasts the longest straight on the F1 calendar and Sky Sports F1 analyst Paul di Resta feels that on a less power dependent track points will come for McLaren.
"They are getting closer, they will definitely come when we get to a smaller track. I guess the big test to come for them is Barcelona, it is not so reliant on the Honda power plant, but more the downforce of the car," he said.
"They are getting there, getting them into Q3 and out of trouble is key."
Don't miss the F1 Report on Wednesday at 8:30pm on Sky Sports F1 for full analysis of an action-packed Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit. Natalie Pinkham is joined in the studio by Marc Priestley and Alex Lynn.