F1: Button Looking For Another Good Result

Formula 1

F1: Button Looking For Another Good Result

Jenson Button will start the Malaysian GP from second spot...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted March 24, 2012 Sepang (MAS)

Jenson Button will have a new teammate in 2013. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Jenson Button starts the Malaysian GP from second spot, and as in Melbourne, he has to be the man most likely to threaten pole winner Lewis Hamilton.

Button has the disadvantage of the dirty side of the grid, but in Australia he made the best launch of any car in the field.

“I was pretty happy with the lap,” said Button of his Malaysia qualifying run. “I think with the heat it is very difficult to get a good lap out of the car as the car is moving around a lot, but I was pretty happy.

“I think as a team we have a lot of confidence at the moment in what we’re doing. I don’t think we’ve too overconfident. I think we have to be very good with everything. The pace has to be there, the consistency, the pit stops need to be key, because Mercedes are very quick – and also the Renaults and Red Bulls. Their pace seems to be better in race trim than in qualifying, so it’s going to be a busy afternoon for the strategy guys and the engineers and obviously for us out on circuit.”

Button said he didn’t rule out any threat on Sunday, specifically from fourth-place qualifier Mark Webber and Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel who qualified sixth but starts fifth.

“Well, they’re not bad," he said. "They’re fourth and fifth on the grid so it’s not terrible. We definitely had an advantage today, it was a lot smaller than in Melbourne and we did a very good job today. If they’ve got everything out of the car, yes, we’re two tenths quicker than him.

“It’s small, it’s not the advantage that we’ve seen over the last couple of years. And the race is a very different thing; I think they proved that in the last race. Obviously, Sebastian got a bit lucky with the safety car but still, their pace was good in the race so we expect that again.”

Button said that he enjoys the Sepang track: “This is a fast, flowing circuit and a circuit that is tough in many ways: for the car, for the tires and for us ... sitting in the cockpit, as well. It’s a long, hot afternoon tomorrow. But I’m looking forward to it. I think we have a good race car. Difficult to know how good but I think our long-run pace yesterday showed some reasonable consistency. So, we have to hope for that tomorrow.”

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.