Button inspired by last Montreal victory
STRUGGLING Jenson Button hopes to overturn a run of poor results with a strong performance at this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.
The 33-year-old McLaren driver has scored just 10 points since he won the opening race in Australia and has struggled in qualifying in recent races.
He now lies seventh in the title race with 45 points, 31 adrift of drivers’ championship leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.
The 2009 champion admitted he must improve his qualifying performances and is hoping for a repeat of the heroics that saw him steal victory from Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel on the final lap at last year’s Montreal race – a win Button later hailed as his greatest yet.
“You want to get as high up the grid as possible,” Button said. “A lot can happen here. Last year we did not have marbles but everything else was thrown into the mix. It is a tough race to get the car spot on, but last year definitely went all right.”
McLaren have struggled recently – Button failed to make the final part of qualifying in Barcelona and Monaco, and he and British teammate Lewis Hamilton have not managed a top four finish since the Chinese Grand Prix in March.
“The last three races I’ve retired twice and scored two points. They haven’t been my finest weekends, so I need to score some good points this weekend to get it back on track,” said Button.
The Briton added that he is confident he can turn things around and become a strong contender in this year’s title race.
“We all come here hoping for a victory and aiming for a victory, but as you see consistently being in the double figures in points is key to finishing at the front,” he said.
“It hasn’t gone my way or the team’s way in the last few races but it will turn around and we will get back to scoring big points.”
Hamilton has scored points at each of the six races this year and lies fourth in the standings with 63 points.
And team managing director Jonathan Neale expressed his confidence of a turnaround in form for the British team in Montreal.
“We’ve seen Jenson can be very quick on Fridays, so he is doing a great job for us,” said Neale.
“Together with the engineers we need to find that consistency and translate that from Friday into a Saturday result. We’re not that far away and I’m confident that he can.
“I wouldn’t read too much into Monaco as a race, it’s rather a unique weekend. I’m sure Jenson will be on strong form this weekend.”
Neale also suggested that errors were more costly than usual because of the tight start to the 2012 season.
“We have seen Jenson be unlucky and not quite get the car in the right place in the last two races,” he said.
“It is very tight – you only need to miss a tenth or two and you can move a lot of places in qualifying. Six races in and six winners and five constructors having won shows how close and challenging it is at the top.”
Neale added: “The car definitely has the pace and the upgrades are coming thick and fast.
“Pole position in Spain by half a second demonstrates just how much performance there is in the car.
“Both drivers have a car underneath them that can win this race, if we can get the tyres consistently into the sweet spot – we go there this weekend determined to put both our drivers in a position to win.”
Neale also played down talk that 2008 champion Hamilton, out of contract at the end of the season, could be leaving to join either Ferrari, Red Bull or Mercedes.
“Quite clearly we would like him to continue racing for us, he’d like to continue racing for us,” Neale said.
“We have plenty of time, we don’t need to make that decision until much later this year. I wouldn’t put the last two races into a professional’s mind like Lewis’s in terms of where he will be comfortable in the future.”
Michael Schumacher has won seven Formula One world championships, seven Canadian Grands Prix and has the number seven on his Mercedes.
If it all falls into place for him in Montreal on Sunday, the 43-year-old German could also find himself in seventh heaven as the unprecedented seventh different winner in seven races so far this season.
Schumacher is a long shot, given that he has just two points to his credit and has not stood on the Grand Prix podium since he ended three years of retirement in 2010, but not as much as some might suspect.
He showed a flash of his former brilliance in Monaco two weeks ago, his car is now a proven winner and he looked on course for a podium in Canada last year before having to settle for fourth.
The former Ferrari great would have been on pole in Monaco had he not picked up a five-place grid penalty at the previous race in Spain, and that performance provided a timely boost.
“The race in Montreal is usually action-packed, like we saw last year. The characteristics of the circuit should suit us, and we are counting on our car performing well there,” said Schumacher.
“A trip to Montreal is always worth it and let’s hope we can make our trip this year especially worthwhile.”– Sapa-AFP & Reuters
“In relation to winning races with an illegal car, I’m happy to be called lots of things and I’m happy to have criticism about my driving and lots of stuff, but I will not take criticism in that respect,” said the 35-year-old.
“All teams that were against it did not make any protest after Monaco, the car passed the test after Bahrain… and now there has been a clarification on the rule, and the rule now is different.”
Red Bull’s double world champion Sebastian Vettel won in Bahrain, with the Renault powered team currently the only ones to have more than one race this season.
Webber and Vettel are level on points, three behind Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso after a season that has thrown up six different winners in six races.
Red Bull have never won at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where McLaren have won for the past two years, Lewis Hamilton in 2010 and Jenson Button last year.
Webber said: “I think that judging by how the start of the season has gone, there is every chance that we can still do well here… We come here confident but not crazy on confidence.” – Reuters