Button searching for answers

Jenson Button admits urgently he needs to get to the bottom of why he’s not performing to the high standards set by both himself and McLaren…

Jenson Button admits he urgently needs to get to the bottom of why he’s not performing to the high standards set by both himself and McLaren.

Having begun the season on a high with a win first up in Australia and a second place finish in China – the third race of the campaign – Button’s performances have dipped terribly.

The slide has seen him score just seven points in the last six races, a run of woe that sees him languishing in eighth spot on the Drivers’ table.

The former World Champion endured another horror weekend at the British Grand Prix, qualifying in a lowly 16th spot and only progressing to 10th in the race.

Sitting 79 points behind championship leader Fernando Alonso, Button’s chances of winning the title appear to be all but over already. However, the Briton insists that for the moment he is focused on race by race improvements rather than on long term goals.

“You don’t look at the title picture until the last few races,” said Button
“Instead you just drive and you try and pick up as many points as you can, but lately that’s been difficult for me.
“As a team, the last few races have been difficult, and we’re now fourth in the constructors’ (championship).
“That’s something we have to sort out because we can’t end the season there, or worse. We have to improve.
“We’ve a technical meeting [on Tuesday] which is going to be a sombre one, but I’m sure everyone is going to be very aggressive about trying to improve this car.
“This is a team that’s won multiple world championships and you have two guys in the hot seat that have won world titles as well, and have been very competitive over the last couple of years.
“We will get back to being strong, it’s just a matter of time. I just hope it happens sooner rather than later.”

While Button’s team-mate Lewis Hamilton has performed at a much higher level than Button, he too struggled for pace at Silverstone.

“I know I’ve had my personal issues with the car but I feel I’ve not had them the last couple of races, and [on Sunday] I definitely didn’t have them,” he said.
“We just didn’t have the pace and I think Lewis struggled more than I did with the car.
“When you see a car come past you like you’re stood still then it is a surprise, and you think ‘Well, how good does their car feel? It must be on rails all the way around’.
“I don’t know where we’re missing out. I don’t know how so many teams can be getting it right and we can’t.”