A wet first practice day at the Japanese Grand Prix has done nothing to change Jenson Button’s mindset as he stands on the cusp of his maiden world championship success.
The Brawn GP driver, who leads teammate Rubens Barrichello by 15 points with three races remaining, said on Thursday that he was ”chilled” heading into this weekend’s race at Suzuka.
And despite finishing a lowly 18th in Friday’s first practice and electing to sit out the rain-affected second session altogether, he was not panicked by his position at the foot of the timesheets.
”Same as Thursday,” he laughed when asked how he felt at the end of Friday’s practice, taking the opportunity to heap praise on team boss Ross Brawn for his composure in tight championship fights.
”Ross’s input has been very important, and he’s been in this situation that we’re in at the moment — challenging for championships — before,” Button said of the former Ferrari lynchpin.
”It’s always useful to have someone like Ross in the team for that reason alone, because he knows what it feels like and he’s been in every situation.
”There’s more to it than that [however]. He’s obviously very happy with what he’s achieved in this sport before Brawn GP, but I think this is very special for him with what he’s achieved.”
Button was unconcerned with sitting out the Friday afternoon session, saying that he and the team would have invested more time in some wet-weather running had the forecast for the remainder of the weekend predicted persistent rain.
”A straight-forward [weekend] is good, but it’s exciting. Getting out there on dry tyres straight into qualifying will be exciting at Suzuka,” he said.
”We have to hope we can get a good balance for qualifying straight off, and that’s why we’re doing a lot of work on Friday night to make sure we have the balance correct when we get out there.
”It’s very difficult trying to balance a car in the wet and thinking it’s going to be the same in the dry, so that’s one of the reasons we didn’t do any running this afternoon.”
Button needs to score five more points than Barrichello on Sunday if he is to clinch the title here, with the final two races of the season at Interlagos in Brazil (October 18) and the new Yas Marina circuit at Abu Dhabi (November 1).
Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel, who is 25 points behind the Englishman, is a mathematical, yet unlikely chance, to win the drivers’ crown. — AFP
