Button criticizes Vettel for crash
McLaren’s Jenson Button has unleashed a flurry of criticism on Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull following his blunder at the Belgian Grand Prix. Slapped with a drive-through penalty for his manoeuvre on Button, Vettel cost the Briton the race, rendering him unable to finish. Justifiably infuriated, the dismayed 2009 champion rued a lost opportunity and came down hard on Vettel’s error-prone driving.
“He's made too many mistakes this year to fight for the world championship but he is extremely quick, we can't take that away from him,” Button commented, according to BBC Sport. “To get seven poles is extraordinary in the amount of races we've had (13), but to throw that many away is also very surprising.”
Indeed Button’s comments are not without merit, as Vettel’s nickname is quickly changing from “Baby Schumi,” to “Crash Kid.” The German fuelled immense controversy regarding the rivalry between him and team-mate Mark Webber back in May, when he collided with the Australian by mistake, throwing away a potential one-two win for Red-Bull. Later, Vettel blew another win in Hungary by breaking a safety car rule, earning what would not be his last drive-through penalty of the season. BBC Reporter Andrew Benson writes in his blog, "A driver who is chasing the world championship can normally get away with one - or possibly two - such major errors in the course of a season, but any more than that and you are making life very difficult for yourself."
At the Belgian Grand Prix, Vettel had cornered very aggressively but lost control and crashed with Button. Vettel was able to continue racing after a pit stop, but Button had to retire from the race.
Both Button and Vettel will have to muster a great deal of success in the next few races to keep the title within their sights, with Button sitting at 147 points in the Driver’s Championship and Vettel at 151 pts. Yet despite the downfalls, the McLaren star remains vigilant and positive. “I'm in a position now where I've just got to go there and hope for a race victory and work towards it,” Button states. “If I can come away with another race victory in Monza then it's a very different atmosphere and feeling for me. It's a circuit I love and where I will do very well this year. I'm confident in the car and I think I'll have a good weekend.”
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