F1: Button Expecting Tighter Race In Abu Dhabi

Formula 1

F1: Button Expecting Tighter Race In Abu Dhabi

Jenson Button says McLaren should be strong in Abu Dhabi...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted November 01, 2012 Abu Dhabi (ARE)

Jenson Button is the 2009 World Champion. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Jenson Button believes that the field could be more competitive in Abu Dhabi than in other recent races, with more teams involved in the fight at the front.

“I think as you’ve seen in the last few races, Red Bull, the Ferrari and our car have been relatively strong,” said Button on Thursday. “Maybe Ferrari and us not quite as strong as the Red Bulls but this is a very different type of circuit to India. It’s not front-limited like India was; I think the rear is going to be the limitation. So, we will see.

“It is going to be very competitive, I think. And that’s just those three teams – I think you’ll also have a couple of other teams that we’ve seen be strong on occasions, especially the latter part of the season, that we’ll see at the front fighting as well.”

Button also made an interesting comment about the more aggressive curbs that have been added to the track for this season.

“It’s a difficult circuit to overtake on but it’s fun to drive and it’s good that they’ve put bigger curbs in, I think,” he said. “Last year, if you saw the footage, we were using probably more of the circuit than we should be because there isn’t a limit in terms of a big curb to stop you from going over the white lines.

“Now there are bigger curbs, I think it’s a good thing, it keeps us all on the circuit, keeps us in the right place between the white lines. Now we have to see what the curb ride is like because obviously it’s different to what it was last year.”

Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.