Malaysia: Jenson Button in the Fastest Three

By Phil Huff
March 18 2006

Having qualified second in Malaysia, and setting the fastest overall lap in the process, Jenson Button had to go to the 'Fastest Three' press conference alongside pole sitter Giancarlo Fisichella and newcomer Nico Rosberg...

Jenson, not very happy yesterday but a great performance today.

No, yesterday we were struggling quite a bit with the car set-up but they did a lot of hard work overnight and we're here. The car is working a lot better today so I've got to thank the team for all their hard work overnight, they did a fantastic job of turning things around really, because it wasn't looking this good. But I'm happy with second, it would have been nice to have been first but that's pretty much all the time we had.

You said from the start how much you were enjoying this new qualifying session, a lot of heat out there, a lot of laps, a lot of work to do.

Yes, but the problem is when you're stuck in the garage more than anything else. Driving the car's not so bad, it's in the garage, but we've done a good job with fans and everything so I haven't got too hot. It's a bit of a challenge, it's good.

We've had some problems with engines this weekend; indeed, we've had one problem with the Honda engine of your team mate. Your thoughts on reliability and what it's going to take tomorrow in these very difficult conditions.

It's going to be tough on everything: on the driver, on the tyres and even on the car. It's never easy around this circuit, it's always very hot and very humid, and luckily we're very well prepared for tomorrow and now we're just going to have to work out if our strategy is the right one and I think it is.

Second on the grid, an improvement from last weekend.

Yeah, this is great for us because we didn't expect this yesterday. In fact we didn't expect it up until the first qualifying session really, when the car suddenly came alive. We had a few issues yesterday with the set-up, we were quite a long way off what we expected here but I think I need to say thanks to the team who have done a fantastic job overnight and they've really turned the car around. It's not just on one lap pace, the long run pace is fantastic now. It's a big step forward from yesterday so I'm very very happy to be on the front row and I think we can have a good race.

Just to continue the progression in qualifying through to Australia…

It would be great to be on pole but there's tomorrow first. I think we have a good strategy and that's the great thing. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow. It's going to be tough for all of us, the heat, but it's an extra challenge, I suppose.

Your team mate has had to have a new engine; are there any similar worries for you?

No, there are not massive worries that I'm going to have a problem tomorrow. They know the issues with Rubens's engine and it shouldn't be a problem at all, so they're confident that we're not going to have any issues tomorrow which is great. I think with the heat, I think they understand where we are so that's good.

Did you want to make any further adjustments during qualifying? You’re only allowed to make very limited adjustments.

No, because when I jumped into the car during qualifying it was a big step forward from what we had in practice so the car felt good. We made a few adjustments to the front wing and that was about it, and then a few adjustments to the differential and the traction control. But the car was good.

Would you prefer it if it rains tomorrow?

Wet or dry, it's not an issue, but we've done most of our running in the dry, and we are quick in the dry.