Jenson Button on Monday shrugged off the disappointment of his first non-finish of the season in Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix and said he remained confident of winning the drivers’ world championship.
The 29-year-old Englishman, who crashed out in his Brawn GP car on the opening lap of the drama-laden classic, said he felt positive about next month’s Italian Grand Prix and the run-in to the end of the season.
With five races remaining — in Italy, Singapore, Japan, Brazil and Abu Dhabi — Button leads the title-race with 72 points, ahead of Brawn GP teammate Rubens Barrichello on 56 and German Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull third on 53.
Sunday’s incident-filled race was won by Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari, who scored his first win in 25 races and his team’s first this season.
Italian veteran Giancarlo Fisichella was second, delivering the Force India team’s first points with a podium finish.
Button, who started a distant 14th on the grid, said: ”It’s frustrating as I was in a reasonable position having made up some places and with a lot of fuel on board. But it’s better to have my first retirement here — where I haven’t been so competitive — than when I’m running at the front.
”We’re determined to get back on track at the next race and to be more competitive there on a circuit that should be quite good for our car. Despite everything and all that has happened, I am still positive.
”There’s no reason for me to be down, even though I have lost two points of my championship lead. That is not good, but none of my main title contenders had a great day, so it was not such a bad weekend.
”We go to Monza positive, not negative, because we’re in the lead. We know we have to have some good races, but we’re looking forward to it.”
Button has led the championship all season after claiming a fairytale victory in the opening race for the new Brawn GP team that was created by a buyout of the defunct Honda outfit that pulled out of Formula One last year.
He won six of the opening seven races, but has suffered a mid-season collapse of form that has seen him score just 11 points in the last five races without delivering a single podium finish.
Barrichello has steadily eaten into his lead and won his first race of the year at the European Grand Prix in Valencia while Vettel believes he retains serious hopes.
”Looking at the championship you see how quickly things can change,” said the German.
”This championship is a bit crazy, to be honest. It’s a good result for us. We’ve taken points out of the Brawns.”
Brawn boss Ross Brawn said: ”It wasn’t a great weekend, but it could have been a lot worse. Now we have to cleanse our minds before Monza. The car should work well there. We’re good on brakes, on traction, so I think we can look forward to that one.”
Asked about Button’s ability to cope with the weight of expectation while struggling for form and results, he said: ”This is pressure he’s never had before and he’s got to get used to it, but he’s handling it very well.
”I keep saying to the guys that six months ago we didn’t have a team — so whatever we get is a bonus, even if we don’t get to where we might want to be.” — Sapa-AFP