Jenson Button looking more confident of challenging Red Bull on faster circuits – Formula 1 news
Jenson Button of Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes team looks confident than ever that his team can now challenge Red Bull Racing on high-speed racetracks.
In the recently held Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, Button won the race and proved that the McLarens have really improved in their ability to drive on faster tracks.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso came second with a 1.1-second gap from Button, and Vettel was third fastest that day. The German, however, had nothing to lose as he just needed one point to become this season’s champion, which he did. Due to tyre issues, the Milton
Keynes-based team had to lose the race to McLaren, despite having the fastest car on the circuit.
Button said, “I think our car works well on high-speed circuits and it's good to see that because that was a weakness of ours if you compare us with Red Bull. At high-speed corners we were always looking at them and go 'how the h**l are they doing that?”
Button has observed that his team has been performing very well over the last few races, and their performance has markedly improved, more so after the Grand Prix at Spa, the team is now more capable of handling tyres on high-speed circuits.
It is not just about how fast you are on the circuit but also how well you manage your tyres and what kind of a tyre strategy you have in place, Button said.
The McLaren-Mercedes team currently lies on the second position with 388 points to their credit.
Button said that the Korean Grand Prix, which starts Friday, October 14, will be a tough one for the teams particularly from tyre management point of view.
Pirelli will be providing soft and super-soft compound to the teams, and it will be a challenge for the teams to drive on at this high-speed circuit that comprises of some really tricky and fast turns.
Button said, “The softs are pretty tough tyres to do a long run with anyway, so with the supersoft is going to be interesting. You could see a lot of stops here.”
Let’s see how McLaren performs at this weekend’s race at the Korea International Circuit. The first free practice session starts Friday, October 14 and the main race event is set to take place on Sunday, October 16, 2011 with the qualifiers scheduled for
Saturday.
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