Jenson Button is hoping his return to Spa next weekend goes better than his last two visits.
“I love racing at Spa,” he said, “But, unfortunately haven’t done too much of it recently as I’ve been taken out of the last two Belgian Grands Prix through no fault of my own. This year, I’ll be hoping for a little more luck.”
Button’s race ended in a multi-car crash at Les Combes in 2009, and last year he was hit by Sebastian Vettel as the Red Bull driver tried to overtake him.
The winner of the last race aims to put Red Bull under pressure this weekend: “Once again, our aim will be to put pressure on the championship frontrunners, particularly Red Bull. Our car definitely feels really driveable right now, so I don’t think this weekend’s tyre compound selection will affect us too much.
“We learnt a lot about the Pirelli Medium after the race in Valencia, and I think we’ve moved on quite a bit since then.”
2011 Belgian Grand Prix
Image © McLaren
Kiril Varbanov
19th August 2011, 12:28
Well, if if rains, I’ll put my bet on him :)
BasCB
19th August 2011, 14:55
Going by the weather in the past couple of months, we can hardly expect a fully dry weekend, so that box will be cecked, now for Button to deliver!
raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
19th August 2011, 17:09
I wouldn’t. If the weather is full wet or full dry; all bets are off Button. But if it changes; then maybe he might even get a podium
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
20th August 2011, 0:54
I think at the moment it’s pretty hard to bet against him in the wet.
MattHT (@mattht)
19th August 2011, 12:33
I fancy Button to win this weekend, just got that gut feeling.
cpfcfan (@cpfcfan)
19th August 2011, 12:34
+1
TommyB (@tommyb89)
19th August 2011, 12:48
I think you’re right.
Mole
19th August 2011, 13:01
He needs a string of wins in a non-super competitive car to silence his critics
slr
19th August 2011, 13:10
To silence his critics, Button needs to win in the dry for a change. That, as well as winning when the car isn’t perfect as you said.
TommyB (@tommyb89)
19th August 2011, 13:36
Agree with slr. He needs to win a race on pace rather than being on the right tyres in a wet/dry situation.
Crazy to think he’s only ever won a dry race in 2009.
timi
19th August 2011, 14:09
yeah slr is totally right. when was the last time he won due to pure pace, in non changeable conditions.
relying on changeable conditions will only get you so many wins..
Joey-Poey (@joey-poey)
19th August 2011, 14:15
Yes it’ll only get you so many wins, yet he’s proven to be pretty cunning when in that situation. I’d still say it’s a valuable skill and proves him to be a great driver in his own right. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.
daykind (@)
19th August 2011, 17:24
I suppose though, in 2009 he won in Australia, Spain, Monaco and Turkey.
George (@george)
19th August 2011, 17:51
I guess he’ll have to take Hamilton out again to stand a chance this weekend ;)
Chris Holland-Skinner (@kidchris92)
19th August 2011, 12:47
Button due a good result here, I too would back him in the wet. Also expecting Lewis to bounce back here, unlucky in a way not to win or at least be 2nd in Hungary on a day where the McLaren was the fastest car in the conditions. Be nice to have a wet quali and see a certain Mr. S.Vettel qualify 14th or something like that, what the championship needs! Although I fear the championship is done and dusted… We can hope!
Katy (@katy)
19th August 2011, 13:09
I was thinking the title isn’t over but then I put in some realistic results for Hamilton.
Bel: 1st
Ita: 2nd
Sin: 4th
Jap: 3rd
Kor: 2nd
By India (3 races to go) he’d be level on points with Vettel… if Sebastian doesn’t score a single point in those races.
topdowntoedown (@topdowntoedown)
19th August 2011, 14:06
That’s *quite* a big if.
Sadly.
Rob Wilson (@rob-wilson)
19th August 2011, 13:36
Yeah it would take Hamilton to win something like 4 out of the next 5 races and Vettel to DNF a couple of them, finish on the podium maybe once and come like 5th or 6th on the other 2 to then liven up this championship going into the last 3 races. Possible, but unlikely.
Chris Holland-Skinner (@kidchris92)
19th August 2011, 13:46
Unlikely, but Hamilton had a far from perfect first half of the year, same could happen to vettel, problem is all the top guys (Lewis, Fernando, Jenson, Mark and occasionally Fellipe) all take points off each other.
TommyB (@tommyb89)
19th August 2011, 13:46
If anyone is going to beat Vettel they need to be winning most of the races. At the moment, if Vettel doesn’t win it’s either Button/Hamilton/Alonso so they are just taking points off each other.
Steph (@)
19th August 2011, 14:25
You’re right Tommy. It’s almost impossible for anyone to beat Seb. Fernando was right that he needs Mclaren in the mix as they have to beat Seb but he needs to finish ahead of Mclaren (Lewis and Jense will need Alonso to beat Seb but finish behind them) to take big points off Vettel. The field is just too close at the moment and there’s a risk of it turning into another 2009 where the championship leader falls a bit behind but doesn’t need to worry as the rest just take points from each other and have enough rope to hang each other with.
BasCB
19th August 2011, 14:59
Yeah, a bit like we had in 2009, when it was Rubens, Vettel, Webber and even Hamilton winning a few so they could never catch up.
And the fact Vettel never really lost it either in qualifying or the race, always finishing in the top points positions makes it even harder for any single driver to challenge him seriously.
Fixy (@)
19th August 2011, 18:02
I doubt Vettel’s second-half of 2011 will be as bad as Button’s in 2009.
Todfod (@todfod)
20th August 2011, 7:16
Yeah.. I can’t imagine Vettel not making it to Q3, and battling to finish in the points.
raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
20th August 2011, 4:48
Scarily, I think he’ll still win 1-3 races this year
Gubstar
19th August 2011, 14:08
Unlike most people that comment on here, I dont think Jenson has anything left to prove. He is a world champion and multiple GP winner, for 3 different contructors. He has won both in the wet and the dry. He has won both from the back of the grid, and from pole. And also, the rain is a great leveller, taking more emphasis away from the car and putting it on the driver. He was top of the pile in 2004 (apart from the mega-dominant Ferrari’s). He outscored everyone in the second half of 2006 when he was in the 4th quickest car. And there have been many GP’s in which he has proven he is no slouch when it comes to overtaking.
I dont think I have ever heard anyone say “he has more raw pace than Lewis” or “he is more complete than Fernando”, but the constant bashing, the constant claims that he is always lucky, and thats its never down to him when he gets the victories is utter nonsense!! There will always be critics, there will always be fanboys, but I think its about time that the guy got some credit.
The rest of the grid certainly respect his ability, Just see Alonso’s comments after Monza last year.
Chris Holland-Skinner (@kidchris92)
19th August 2011, 16:19
I am a huge fan of JB’s and agree with you Gubstar, you cannot win the WDC unless you are a good enough driver, ok you need the car to be up to scratch but you still have to deliver the title. I do however view Alonso and Hamilton as the two best drivers in the sport bar none, but Jenson in his own consistent way racks up the points and gets the job done. Fernando is the most complete, Lewis has the most raw pace and is the best ‘racer’, but Jenson in my view is the cleverest driver on the grid.
TribalTalker (@tribaltalker)
19th August 2011, 22:07
Agreed – though it pains me to say it, Alonso is the strongest across the board. Hamilton is brilliant but not as canny. Button has superb “feel” but lacks the agression of LH and FA. He has good mental balance though, maintains some emotional discipline.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
19th August 2011, 17:34
Sorry but I can’t agree. His dry wins have come only in the class of the field and he doesn’t seem to have much of an ability to extract the most from an ordinary car, unlike at least three other drivers I could name here. You say rain being a leveller proves his ability but it’s not rain that’s helped him win but mixed conditions, damp but not wet. It seems that at the end of the last race some people (including commentators I respect massively) forgot even the first part of the very same race, where his team-mate left him for dust and was undone by a tyre choice rather than pace.
It’s Jenson’s great misfortune to be in such a strong field because F1 typically sees two strong drivers in two top teams fighting for the championship. Now we’ve had 4,5 top drivers and 3 top teams and it just so happens Jenson isn’t the best driver and doesn’t have the best car most of the time. I defy anyone to say Button is average, but his relative quality is apparent most weekends.
Adrian J (@adrian-j)
21st August 2011, 22:19
The same can be said for Vettel and Webber too.
David A
22nd August 2011, 3:25
Not all of Seb’s wins (eg. Spain, Monaco this year) have been on weekends where the RB was the fastest, and for some of JBs wins in 09 rival cars were on the same level.
John H
19th August 2011, 14:09
That’s not strictly true, qualifying 14th and 5th hasn’t helped him. He’d do well to remember that.
Steph (@)
19th August 2011, 14:26
His low positioning was his fault but being taken out wasn’t.
jsw11984 (@jarred-walmsley)
19th August 2011, 22:03
I think what John H means is that because of his low qualifying this put him in the middle of the field with drivers in much less competitive cars and so he was in the battles which resulted in him being taken out.
John H
19th August 2011, 22:18
Indeed. Of course he was very unlucky, but it was not completely out of his hands unlike for example Piquet & Salazar (!).
Adrian J (@adrian-j)
21st August 2011, 22:20
Let’s not forget that it was Vettel who took him out last year…hardly a driver in a “much less competitive car”.
BasCB
19th August 2011, 15:01
But going on how the race panned out in 2010 it was pretty likely he could have finished on the podium or even won.
And the 2009 race was also one offering good chances to get to the front, i think.
Chris Holland-Skinner (@kidchris92)
19th August 2011, 16:23
Qualifying 14th put Jenson in the firing zone, but I’d argue from 5th on the grid you’d expect to be around drivers focusing on getting good championship points and therefore not have anyone trying really risky moves. Remember the top 5 at that time were all in contention to win the championship, and on the grid that day only Kubica in the top 6 was not in championship contention (I stand to be corrected if I am wrong on that).
David-A (@david-a)
19th August 2011, 20:43
Massa was also in the top six, on a rare day that tile contending Alonso spent the whole weekend in the midfield.
Sam
19th August 2011, 15:46
Button might win, but his teammate has to fall off the track for him to do so.
Chris Holland-Skinner (@kidchris92)
19th August 2011, 16:30
Probably true, Lewis has a pole and a win round Spa and should in my view have kept his 2008 victory too, Button yet to be on the podium here to my knowledge, although he showed speed here before, notably on his first visit in the Williams all those years ago…
driftin
19th August 2011, 19:26
I am such an idiot. For the past two weeks I’ve been under the impression that the Belgian GP started on the 2nd September, and I’ve now realised I’ve been looking at the 2012 calendar!
I’m excited now, something to look forward to next weekend.
VXR
19th August 2011, 19:51
Funny how things get to the point where we have to compare drivers.
I reckon he would have won in Hungary, wet or dry. Hamilton, as usual, was chewing his tyres, and Button was catching him hand over fist.
Button was a WDC in a car that wasn’t either a Ferrari a McLaren a Renault or anything else that usually wins a driver the WDC. So fair dues to him for putting his faith in the team that he’d practically built around himself. And now he’s making another driver who has built the team around himself, feel a might uncomfortable.
And no hard tyres for Hammy from here on in.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
20th August 2011, 0:58
I hope JB is successful next weekend. I think seeing him do badly hits me the most of any driver. Not sure why, I just like the guy!
BROOKSY007 (@brooksy007)
20th August 2011, 1:11
I agree that jb doesn’t have anything to prove, I think that it is his driving style that makes him look slow!
He is so calculated and calm all the time that you never remember his drives! He never looks like he is on the edge or driving the wheels off it!
Add a bit more Kobayashi? Into jensons style and you’d have one hell of a highlight real to match his success!
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
20th August 2011, 2:39
After the win in Hungary he will be full of confident & I see Mclaren to be a better car then Red Bull in Spa.
raymondu999 (@raymondu999)
20th August 2011, 4:45
Button’s 4 McLaren wins have mostly come from tyre choice; not speed. If the conditions are changing; then maybe Button could be up there. But if it’s full-on wet, or full-on dry, I don’t think he’ll do it tbh
HS
20th August 2011, 6:48
I’ll put my money on Lewis if it’s full-on wet, or full-on dry. Anything in between, Button should be the favourite.
james_mc
20th August 2011, 21:27
My money is on Hamilton for this weekend.
F1 98
21st August 2011, 9:06
Money is on button I bet my friend 60 pounds
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
21st August 2011, 10:53
Best of luck!