Britain: Jenson faces up to the press

By Phil Huff (08/07/2004)
July 8 2004

As the build up to the British Grand Prix continues, Lucky Strike BAR Honda's British star Jenson Button faced up to the assembled press.

You took part in the London demonstration earlier this week; can we have your impressions of it?

I think it was a fantastic event, even though the circuit wasn't very wide so we couldn't really play too much, but it was a fantastic turn-out. Hearing the sounds of the engines within the buildings was fantastic. The crowd seemed to be really into it as well which is great. It's good that we've got a lot of fans down there in London, and probably a lot of people that won't be coming to the race this weekend, because it's sold-out or they've got other things on – like the Party in the Park. But as I said, I think it was a great show, the logistics of it were obviously very difficult, putting eight Formula One cars on the road in rush-hour but they did a great job.

And the atmosphere?

The atmosphere was pretty special; it really was, especially when we were doing the doughnuts at the end. There was a big cheer from the crowd and they seemed to be really getting into it which was fantastic. It would be great to see a race there in the future.

The last race, obviously you had a pretty good chance to compare the BAR-Honda with your major rivals Renault. What did you think of them, where were they strong, where were you strong?

The start is obviously where they are very strong and we are losing out there quite a bit. To be sat behind Jarno for the whole race was not where we expected to be and I found it very difficult to overtake the Renault. I think we would have had them in the last pit stop but we had the unfortunate problem of the anti-stall kicking in when I pulled away from the stop.

In fact their straight-line speed going into Adelaide was relatively slow - it was the second slowest - but you still couldn't get past?

No, it's very difficult, you lose a lot of downforce out of turn two when you're behind another car and to drag by is very tough and I couldn't get close enough. But that's not the real issue - it's being behind them after the start really. That's what lost us a lot of time. I think we had a very good strategy and we worked very well on moving it around when we thought Renaults were coming in but we were just lacking in a bit of speed I think and, as I said, the starts are something where we are losing out to the Renaults.

When you say lacking a bit of speed that happened a couple of races ago in Canada where you felt the same sort of thing.

Yeah, it's strange, you know the circuits... When we arrived in Canada and also in France for Magny Cours, we expected to be very quick from the word go and it didn't really happen for us like that, whereas at Indianapolis it did. So it's very strange and we're looking into it, it's difficult to understand why it's not working as we thought it would do. But even so, we are confident that we are going to be quick here. We have tested here previously and the car has been running very well in a long run and also in qualifying trim. We're pretty confident coming here.

What about Anthony Davidson? We’re going to be talking to him after you leave, but what sort of contribution has he made to the team?

He's done a good job, he really has. This is obviously the first year where we've had a third driver driving on Fridays and he's done a very good job. The long runs he's been doing have been very consistent and we're getting a lot of useful information from that so he's very important to the team. Obviously he would rather be racing and I'm sure he's going to be looking around next year for a race drive, but I would be sorry to see him go if he does because he’s doing a very good job.

So what should we ask him when he gets here?

How much fuel he runs on Fridays - that would be an interesting one! No, I'm kidding. We always run the same sort of fuel level, just so people know he is doing a good job and he is very quick.

It's been a disappointing summer of sport for the British fans. How keen are you to do well here, not just for yourselves but for the home crowd as well?

I remember 2000 when it was my first year and then David won here and the crowd just went wild, it was great to see, and hopefully we can emulate that this year with either of us, which would be pretty special I think, in front of your home crowd.

In the first five years the team, I think, got two podiums. This year you're disappointed if you don't get a podium. Can you talk a little bit about just how and why the team has made this huge step forward this season?

There's lots of reasons to do with the car and the improvements with the car. But a lot of it comes through BAR and Honda working so closely together. We're working as one team which is very, very important I think. We're not blaming each other for certain mistakes which a lot of teams seem to do between the car manufacturer and the engine manufacturer. So we've got a very positive atmosphere in the team and we're all moving forward together and we're also very open with our opinions which I think is very important.

What's your outlook for the German Grand Prix? How do you like the circuit and how do you think your car is going to suit the circuit and how do you see your own chances to maybe get your first win there?

I do like the circuit. The first year we drove there I didn't enjoy it very much because you're always comparing it to the original circuit. It's difficult to compare because it's very, very different. But I enjoy it now, I enjoyed it last year, I had a good race last year with Mark Webber so I'm looking forward to going back there. Our car should suit the circuit well, it seemed to be very good on traction and that's a circuit where you need that. If the car's working well there, my chances should be OK. For us a podium is what we always aim for. We would love to beat the Ferraris but it's very difficult at this moment because they are very strong, not just speed but also their strategies seem to work very well and the reliability of their cars is very good at the moment. It's tough but we're working on it.

How astonished are you when they win from sixth on the grid as they did in Canada or go to four stops last weekend, the way they just seemed to be so adaptable and manage to think right the way across the board like that? What do you think of their performance in that way?

When the car is so strong it is very difficult to make a mistake on the strategy. A four-stop strategy should not work, especially at Magny Cours, but when you've got a car that's so strong it's easier.

Would you guys consider the competition right now to be fair? Or, in other others, how easy or difficult is it to win races in a Ferrari?

They are obviously doing a better job than we are. For us, we still are a young team compared to Ferrari, but the performances this year have been staggering. It's also quite strange because the four teams behind are very, very close. Renault, McLaren, Williams and ourselves are quite close now but we're still a little way behind the Ferraris. But that's not their fault, it's down to us.

You and David Coulthard are both great friends. How does that come into play when you are on the track going wheel-to-wheel. I guess would you fight as hard against each other as you would as, say, Schumacher?

I think we proved last year that we don't hold back, when we touched in Barcelona, but hopefully that won't be happening again. I think you treat everyone differently because you know the way they work on the circuit. But, you know, people are very different out of the car than they are in the car. Different personalities.

You mentioned in the build-up to this event, in the BAR press release, that your long-term plan was to be in a position to win by this time of the season. Is that still on track? Are you still confident you are in a position to win a race?

I think here it would be a great achievement but I think it is going to be very difficult the way the Ferraris are at the moment, but, you know, anything can happen. We know we are quick here and we need to put them under pressure but I am sure that there is more than just BAR thinking of doing that this weekend. It is going to be a tough weekend and a very competitive weekend but there is always a possibility.

There is talk of showers at the weekend. How far have Michelin got with tyres in the wet now? Are you a match for the Bridgestones, or better? Are you better in full wet conditions?

We haven't done that much testing in the wet this year. The first test at a race circuit before the race weekend was Magny-Cours and it wasn't very consistent conditions. The last time I drove when there was a Ferrari out on circuit was in Mugello and we performed pretty well actually, I was quite happy with our performance. Things have changed a little bit since then, but I was reasonably happy. The grip level in the wet is quite similar to here, so it should be quite good.