F1: Button Frustrated As Penalty Drops Him To Eighth

Formula 1

F1: Button Frustrated As Penalty Drops Him To Eighth

Jenson Button qualified third in Japan but will line up only eighth on the grid...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted October 06, 2012 Suzuka (JPN)

Jenson Button was the highest non-Red Bull qualifier in Suzuka. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Jenson Button will start the Japanese GP from eighth place after a gearbox change penalty dropped him back from his original third spot.

The 2011 winner now faces a tough job to get on the podium, although he remains optimistic of a good race on Sunday after outpacing struggling teammate Lewis Hamilton in qualifying.

“This morning in practice I wasn’t that happy but we made some good improvements for qualifying,” said Button. “For me both laps I did in Q3 were good. I was happy with the laps, really enjoyed driving around here. It’s always great with low fuel and new tires – new soft tires.

“It was a lot of fun, but we’re just not quick enough. I wouldn’t know what to put my finger on, where that four-tenths is. A good qualifying for us, just a pity we’re starting back in eighth. This place is such a nice place to fight for a win; it’s going to be very difficult for me tomorrow, but never say never. There are always possibilities, and I think we’ll have a good race car also.”

Button said he was not surprised by the pace of the Red Bulls.

“I think we expected them to be quick,” the McLaren driver said. “Their race pace especially has been quick over the last few races. Qualifying hasn’t gone their way, and Seb (Sebastian Vettel) looked really quick in Singapore but it wasn’t there, it didn’t seem, at the end. But their pace is very good here. The balance for me felt great; I felt really happy with the car, but that was it.

“I felt I got everything out of it on both laps but still quite a long way off of these two (Vettel and Mark Webber), but a long way in front of everyone else. So, third place would have been nice to start the race because I think with this race you really don’t know what’s going to happen with tire strategies and degradation and what-have-you.

“A lot of people are struggling with blistering. But I’m starting down in eighth; it’s not the easiest place to start from. But I still think we can really race well from there.”

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.