A look at McLaren driver Jenson Button’s performance in 2011 Formula 1 season so far
2009 Formula 1 champion Jenson Button pulled out a spectacular victory in the Montreal Grand Prix in the 2011 Formula 1 season which was regarded as one of the most memorable win in ages.
With one race win and four podium finishes in the 2011 season, Button has now jumped to second in the drivers’ championship battle, 60 points behind the leader Sebastian Vettel. However, the Brit thinks that he can still be in the title hunt.
Apart from the Montreal spectacle, Button has consistently landed among points in the first six races of the season which is the reason for the Brit challenging the roaring Bull of Sebastian Vettel.
In the season opener of the 2011 in Australia, Button ended sixth in the standings and his teammate Lewis Hamilton finished on the podium. It was thought that Button will be the second driver in the McLaren team and Hamilton will take the fight in the 2011
season.
For the first six races of the season, Hamilton was ahead of Button in the drivers’ championship. However, Button now leads the way not only in the McLaren team but also in the 2011 season.
Button managed his first podium finish of the 2011 season in the second race in Malaysia when the Brit was right on the tail of Vettel in the last few laps of the race.
The Chinese Grand Prix was a bit of a strategy disaster for Button as he was struggling for pace in the last few laps of the race. Button’s pit-stop strategy did not pay off as he was overtaken by Mark Webber in the final few laps of the race. Still Brit
managed a fourth place finish because at that time no other team, except McLaren and Red Bull, were fighting for race wins.
In the Turkish Grand Prix, Button once again paid for his wrong pit-stop call as he found himself in sixth place behind Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg.
At that time of the season, Button slipped to fourth place in the championship battle as Webber climbed over him to take the third place. Button struggled to get past the Aussie driver in the next few races at Spain and Monaco.
In the Spanish Grand Prix, Button bagged another podium finish when he finished third on the table behind the Mark Webber of Red Bull.
A similar result from Button was seen in the Monaco Grand Prix when the Brit managed a podium place for the third time in the season.
Still the Brit was fourth on the table but in the Montreal Grand Prix, Button managed his way past two great drivers of the Formula 1 arena, Hamilton and Webber, to place himself in second position.
Button managed to win the Montreal race in the very last lap of the race when Vettel slipped on the sixth corner of the track, leaving a door open for Button to get his name among the winning drivers in the 2011 season.
Button stood on the top stair of the podium after a gap of almost one year. His last race victory was the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix.
The season continues in Valencia with the eighth grand prix of the season and Button will try his level best to cut short the lead of Vettel before it is too late.
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