Q&A with McLaren’s Jenson Button 03 Apr 2010
After his brilliant drive to victory in Australia last weekend, McLaren’s Jenson Button came down to earth with a bump on Saturday, as he span out of Q1 in the wet conditions at Sepang. But while he’ll start the Malaysian Grand Prix from 17th on the grid, Button is trying to stay positive about the possible outcome of Sunday’s race…
Q: What happened in qualifying?
Jenson Button: We read it wrong, basically. We thought the first rainstorm was it, and there was nothing else coming, so we waited. I guess events proved it was the wrong thing to do. My first lap felt okay, it was quite wet but felt okay. Then on the second lap the first sector felt okay, but then it suddenly was very, very wet and I simply went off the track into the gravel. Obviously I was running on the wrong tyres. The intermediates were not the best choice for those conditions. I just hope that I’ve not damaged anything on the car, because I was sitting in the gravel with the engine running for quite a long time waiting to get pulled out. So yes, it is very disappointing. It was a very strange session with both Ferraris and both McLarens not making it into Q3.
Q: So it will be an unusual start to the race…
JB: Yes. Nevertheless I will start in front of three of my championship rivals, and I suppose that is the best way of looking at it. But I am also starting way behind some other rivals, which is a tough one. The Red Bulls and the Mercedes are so far in front. It will probably hurt us a lot in the championship. We made the wrong decision - as Ferrari did - and now we are paying for it. I hope that we can make it come good tomorrow.
Q: You really were taking risks…
JB: We got the information that there would only be one shower - and that was it. Obviously Ferrari had the same information as we had, and believe me it is pretty frustrating. Sometimes you make the right decision, sometimes you make the wrong choice. I am pretty convinced that we can have a good race from where we are.
Q: The McLarens are fast, what weather are you hoping for on Sunday?
JB: Any weather will move us forward tomorrow. We have a good straight-line speed, and you need that. I have struggled a bit for balance, but the set-up that I had in qualifying would have solved some of the issues, if the rain hadn’t set in for a second time.
Q: So it will be quite a race…
JB: Isn’t that exactly what Formula One wants? It will be a hell of a race. But in the end I am lucky to have got in to Q2. Others were struggling to achieve even that in the wet. So let’s look forward to starting from P17 and see what happens.
