Button shines on drying circuit as Hamilton qualifies on pole
McLaren starts third after German pair are penalised
Dramatic day sees multiple suspension failures
The closest Jenson Button has come to Lewis Hamilton since the world champion left McLaren nearly four years ago is on the truck used to parade the drivers around the track before each race.
Most of the time the veteran Englishman gets behind the wheel Hamilton has been just a small silver speck, way ahead in the distance. Either that or the three-time champion is looming in Button’s rear mirrors accompanied by a mass of blue flags.
But as the five red lights go out today, Button will have the best view in the house of his former sparring partner, right in Hamilton’s Mercedes gearbox, after a dramatic qualifying session for the Austrian Grand Prix meant he will start third in his unfancied McLaren. Who knows, with Hamilton’s suspect starts at the moment Button might lead into turn one.
Fortune finally came both his and Hamilton’s way yesterday. While Germany’s Nico Rosberg has had it all in his favour this year, lady luck has not looked kindly on Britain’s Formula One drivers. Hamilton has been mired in mechanical woes. Button has been toiling away in his underpowered McLaren. But she chose Spielberg to switch her allegiance from Germany to the English protagonists. Maybe she knows the country needs a bit of a break.
Button qualified a brilliant fifth on a drying track, but was promoted to third thanks to five-place grid penalties for both Rosberg and his compatriot, Sebastian Vettel. For Hamilton (right) this means his main title rival, who holds a 24point lead, starts in sixth.
Instead of two Mercedes lining up at the front, it will be a return to the heady days of 2012, when Button and Hamilton diced and fought for the title as team-mates. With McLaren still well off the pace it might not last long, but it will be a welcome throwback to when there was more than just one Briton fighting at the sharp end. Sandwiched between the two is Force India’s Nico Hülkenberg, who was just as impressive in the dying moments of the session on a rapidly drying track. Ever since Hülkenberg won Le Mans this time last year, he has struggled to match Sergio Perez, his team-mate. This was a timely reminder of why so many insisted for so long that he deserves promotion to a top team. But Hamilton and Button, especially, were the stars of this piece. The elder statesman of the sport promised to give it his all, even if the likely outcome is he will be swamped by the Ferraris and Red Bulls behind. After all, this is the first time he has qualified third since the British Grand Prix two years ago. Before this he had not even made it into the top 10 since that season. “It feels like a pole position for me,” the 36-year-old said. “Whatever happens tomorrow we’ll enjoy today. Now it’s about keeping our heads and not leaving anything on the table. We’re not fighting for a podium here. I’m not being pessimistic, I’m a realist. I understand it’s going to be a difficult race for us wherever we start, but hopefully it will be a lot more fun than we are used to.” The 2009 world champion had the stunning final word on an already eventful day. Rosberg crashed spectacularly in morning practice, caused by a suspension failure as he ran over one of the kerbs. The team repaired his car, reinforcing the suspension, but they had to change the gearbox, prompting the grid penalty.
Rosberg’s was one of a litany of suspension failures, most caused by the larger, so-called “sausage” kerbs. First Max Verstappen’s broke in Friday practice, then Sergio Perez and Daniil Kvyat suffered similar issues.
Kvyat was among those to protest that the kerbs are “dangerous”. Yet it is not as if the drivers do not know the risks of running over them. If there was a wall there – as in Monaco or Canada – then drivers leave a margin of error and so they should here.