Jenson Button says he “wouldn’t rule out” a third consecutive Australian Grand Prix win, but admits it doesn’t look likely.
He said: “Albert Park has been good to me: I’ve won there for the past two seasons; it’s a great circuit for racing, it always seems to create unpredictable races and, perhaps because it’s habitually at the start of the season when a precise pecking order has yet to be established, we often see fast cars running out of sequence – and the excitement that that brings.
“With the added issue of multiple tyre stops, it could be a very exciting and unpredictable race weekend.
“I’m regularly being asked if I can make it three wins in a row this year. On paper that might not look likely, but, seriously, who knows? I most definitely wouldn’t rule it out.”
Button added that events in Japan have cast a pall over preparations for the first race of the year:
“In the past, I’d always travelled to Melbourne full of positive energy and enthusiasm.
“But, at the moment, my heart is with the people of Japan as they struggle to come to terms with the scope of the terrible devastation and loss of life wreaked by last week’s earthquake and tsunami.”
Button, whose girlfriend has Japanese parentage, added:
“While the prospect of a Formula 1 race seems to pale in the face of such a disaster, there have been occasions before when the healing power of sport can actually be beneficial; an escape for people.
“So I go to Melbourne this weekend resolving to not only try my best, but also to salute the brave people, and my many friends, throughout Japan.”
2011 Australian Grand Prix
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Image © Pirelli
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
18th March 2011, 11:28
Wow. Button and Hamilton have both been downplaying the MP4-26’s performance a lot lately. Perhaps a little too much …
timi
18th March 2011, 12:06
i think youre on to something here.
lets be real, even if the car was absolute balls, what theyve been saying is a PR nightmare and would have been pulled up on it maybe 3-4 interviews ago, especially as the season hasnt even begun!
then, theres also the fact that for other teams to implement mclarens sidepods would take a lot of time, a lot of simulation and a huge upgrade package. by mclaren’s boys constantly saying its turd, maybe teams will stop running a similar configuration through their simulator… until mclaren win at melbourne by a huge margin. every day counts in f1 and the longer you can get someone to put something off, the better.
i could be completely wrong. but damn, it would be awesome if i was right
Mike
18th March 2011, 12:56
I’m not the biggest McLaren fan, but heck it would make for a great race if McLaren were on the pace.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
18th March 2011, 13:23
There’s a thread on McLaren’s alleged sand-bagging on the forum but that’s more geared towards the exhause outlet rumours.
I think they are being a little TOO pessimistic.
Henry
18th March 2011, 16:17
I understand people do want McLaren do have been sandbagging the whole time, and I agree it would be very amusing but the reality is they are off the pace: and as many engineers across the web have said, they dont have a complete wreck of a car to start with, but one that needs lots of work to make good. Knowing McLaren’s impressive rate of development the last couple of seasons, they might claw it back by half way (hope!) but for now we just have to accept they are not on the pace. simple.
BasCB
18th March 2011, 13:28
To be honest, the last test it was mainly about the reliabilty and not having time enough to work on setup with the running they did.
And here he just says they were hardly the fastest car around and still won, so pretty much anything can happen.
Who knows, they might have found the way to make their fancy exhausts work (a bit) and expect to be faster in Australia.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
18th March 2011, 23:45
Stranger things have happened.
sw6569 (@sw6569)
18th March 2011, 11:43
Button’s last two oz wins have been two of my favourite races of their respective season. On that basis, I hope he wins again!
VXR
18th March 2011, 11:55
I don’t think that they’ll be embarrassing, but I also don’t think that they’ll be challenging at the front either.
But if it rains or if you need a flash of inspiration, then Button could be on the top step again.
Mike-e
18th March 2011, 14:20
I’ve been quietly thinking the same timi, maybe in part because that is what I would do if I had made a huge breakthrough, and partly because I’m a British team/driver fan and hope mclaren don’t have another year like 2009. I also want Williams and Paul Di Resta to do well this year.
John Edwards
18th March 2011, 15:13
Button could win Australia but he’ll need a good lump of luck for it to happen.
The fastest car doesn’t always win there, a bit of start line carnage or rain could present him with a chance.
Melbourne has a tendency of masking cars deficiencies anyway, McLaren have won there a few times before also.
Weirdly I could see them getting a decent result next weekend but but terrible at the races following.
mash26
18th March 2011, 15:28
I don’t know what you guys are talking about, the drivers are not being pessimistic, they are stating the obvious. They are nearly 2 seconds off in qualifying and will most probably be a second off in races, you can’t mask that. Bad results ruin PR not stating the obvoius.
George (@george)
18th March 2011, 18:31
Could you tell us the result too while you’re at it? I could use a good start to the predictions championship.
mash26
19th March 2011, 1:15
Haha, you know what i mean:p I meant on low fuel. If Hamilton says they can do a low 82(seconds) and mercedes did a 81(almost) i would suspect the red bull and ferrari are a further 0,5 to 1 second ahead on fumes. wouldn’t that be an educated guess?
Young One
18th March 2011, 16:09
Didn’t Hamilton finish third in the year when he was branded dishonest by FIA in 2009, having started from 18th. That year was when he was driving the worst car on the grid.
David-A (@david-a)
18th March 2011, 19:14
Not the worst car on the grid, but yes, he took a poor car to 3rd for a while.
MattHT (@mattht)
18th March 2011, 22:53
I’m bored of Mclaren drivers telling us how bad their car is already. I guess it’s half-truth, half calling our bluff, and they’ll be up there within two or three races.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
19th March 2011, 10:20
Both Mclaren drivers think that winning will be tough? Why are they so negative about it. OK I understand that they don’t have the best machine but instead of crying why not work the problem out?
VXR
19th March 2011, 12:27
I don’t think that either Button or Hamilton have too much influence on the design of the car. Maybe just crying about it will make the engineers work harder? It’s certainly worth a try.