Tue Jun 14 03:52PM
It's been said already once this year but, once again, F1 produced one of its greatest ever races last weekend - so how and when did Jenson Button make the crucial moves that made the victory his?
A look at the FIA's official race lap chart shows just how complicated last weekend's Canadian Grand Prix turned out to be, with five safety car periods, one red flag, several big collisions and a large number of pit stops and penalties.
In an incredibly eventful race, Button used seven different sets of tyres, starting on a new set of wets and finishing on a used set of super softs, which he ran on for 19 laps at the end of the race. He also had to serve a drive-through penalty for speeding under the safety car and suffered not one but two punctures - one after colliding with his team-mate Lewis Hamilton and one after a clash with Fernando Alonso, an incident that put him dead last with 30 laps to go.
Having put on too much downforce for qualifying, Button was only able to manage seventh on the grid - but the team had taken the decision with one eye on the rain expected for Sunday and team boss Martin Whitmarsh promised: "Wet or dry, we know that Lewis and Jenson are both fantastic racers - and brilliant overtakers - and we therefore expect them to challenge competitively tomorrow."
After the safety car pulled in to start the race there was not much position movement for Button in the early laps, but there was one major drama when he and Hamilton collided. That incident forced him to make his first stop and he used the opportunity to take a gamble on intermediates as the safety car came out again.
The stop dropped him to 12th and in his haste to catch up the train under the safety car he went too fast, so just five laps later, with the race back under green, he was back in the pits again to serve his drive-through penalty, dropping him further down to 15th place.
The move to intermediates looked a good call at that time, and when the safety car came in again Button went from 15th to eighth through a combination of overtaking and other drivers' pit stops. Of the top 10 runners at that point, however, only Alonso and the two Mercedes drivers followed Button's earlier gamble for intermediates - but almost immediately they were all back in again for wets as the rain began streaming down once more. Button was forced in to change to wets and was back down to 10th when the race was stopped.
Several hours later, after the re-start, Button was once again one of the earliest to switch to intermediates, on lap 35, but he had to come in for another set of new inters just two laps later after suffering his second puncture in the clash with Alonso.
At that point, with plenty of exhausting racing already complete, Button's hopes of victory looked only just a little more alive than those of Hamilton's, who was busy showing pop star Rhianna around the McLaren garage.
He was dead last, one minute and 42 seconds behind race leader Vettel, with just less than half the race still to run.
The safety car that came out because of his incident with Alonso, however, was the catalyst for his dramatic comeback. It allowed him to close the gap right down to just 12 seconds when the racing began again and he quickly picked off the slower cars at the back of the field, with six passing moves in five laps, a few gains through other drivers' stops and a double pass on Pastor Maldonado and Jaimie Alguersuari.
Just nine laps after he was in last place, he was in tenth - although his fight through the field had lost him time and he was now 27 seconds behind Vettel.
At that point, Webber, Barrichello and Buemi took a gamble on dry tyres and Button made the move one lap later. Others came in a lap later still, but it was another two laps before Vettel took the same call - and by the time the leader's dry tyres had settled in to race pace, Button was in fourth and had closed the gap to 15 seconds.
On a drying track with wet patches off-line the limits are harder to find - because it's easier to overstep them - and Button was in the groove. He had more confidence in his car, and was lapping almost two seconds per lap faster than Vettel. He could potentially have caught up on his own, but a helping hand came when the safety car came out again to allow the clear up of Nick Heidfeld's crash, bunching the field up together yet again.
When the racing began again, with just 10 laps to go, Button began hounding the battling pair of Schumacher and Webber and once past them he put in two laps that were around 1.5 seconds per lap faster than Vettel, with the Red Bull driver apparently very late to catch on to what was happening.
When Vettel realised he had to push, he was far more ragged than Button, who may also have been benefitting a little from that extra downforce on some of the more slippery sections.
Vettel sped up but was still 0.3 seconds per lap slower than Button - and when he pushed too hard on the final lap, Button was there to take the spoils.
Ultimately, Button's fightback from last to first was part down to luck and part to judgement - as is often the case with wet races. The two safety car periods certainly closed the field up for him, but the team's good calls on early tyre changes, which turned out to be right, and Button's ability to push the car more to its limits than his rival is what steered him to victory.
And it is indeed hard to disagree that it was one of the greatest drives ever seen...
Its easy to come from that far back with a fast car, DRS, KERS, and wrecking 2 World Champs off the track along the way.
From pantera1834 on Tue Jun 14 04:39PM
It was the best race I've ever seen and a worthy winner , Pantera , stop wingeing and get over it!
Spot on pantera1834 Button would be more suited to stock cars than skill driving.Ramming into Alonso and Hamilton to get his way shows a dark side to him that his fans do not want to see and a visit to specsavers beckons.
What are you talking about, Button was following the dry line through the startfinish exactly the same line that all of the drivers were taking. Plus the fact that visability would have been practically nonexistent he was lucky Hamilton didn't take them both out, great for team points. As for Alonso, both refused to give in on the corner and Button happened to come off better. Maybe you need the specsavers appointment to get a better view of the screen.
From those that know about F1, it was excellent racing by Jenson, he even got past the other world champs despite their aggressive driving, he came through punctures and all you can't fault it. By some of the comments here, I wonder why you guys don't watch some other sport you might be able to understand. Maybe darts or something simple.
LUCK, CONCENTRACTION, PATIENCE, TOP CLASS SKILLS, ETC ETC...
He did it, he WON a great race... Now Hamilton hopefully realises 'You've got to be in it, to WIN it'!!!
McLaren 1 + 2 at Silverstone will be great. And Vettel in 3rd would be perfect in my view... The best racers in F1!!! Some rain will be good as long as they start properly and safety car stays where belongs (the pits), unless there's incident or debris on the track.....
There should be plenty of OVERTAKING in the next few races cause of the tracks (mainly cause wider+different lines are possible), hope the Mercedes GP team close the gap. As long as Vettel or the McLarens are winning, I'll be pleased... Hope BUTTON and HAMILTON do great (top 3) in most the races left. I hope this is where the McLarens turn things around and get BOTH there cars at the front... Take nothing away from Vettel though, he's a great talent and will be one the greats if not the best!!! Best WishesHe won because of safety cars and vettel making a mistake. waste of a article
Mclaren threw the dice and gave wet cars to lewis and hamilton. Unfortunately Hamilton (of whom I am a fan) thought the race was in the first 15 laps, and that he did not have a wet car. Button was excellent - he's shown his wet racing talent before, and it would be good if he showed this week in week out. Even as a Hamilton fan, I still like button, and it adds to the team strength.
super soft tyres button is by far the quickest on this type of tyre,he was very fast on them in monaco aswell,faster than vettel alonso and hamilton ,they must suit his set up and style
mkanham, He won because Maclaren Engineers gave him more downforce,, he won because the tire choices where made at good times, he won because he was driving faster laps than Vittel, who when he realised he had no choice but to go faster, under pressure slipped up. Button won because of correct call from his team a powerfull engine, and shear skill. Safety car merely cooled his tires. article was only a waste on you.
teamcruz yes button had the raceing line coming out of the corner,about 100 yards on he looked left in is mirror then moved across about another foot meaning 2 thing's
1st him only looking in his left mirror show's that he new lewis was coming down the left,this being he did not look in is right mirror.2nd after looking left seeing him and hearing him he then moved that foot which caused lewis to have 1 wheel on the grass and then moved across to shuve him into the wall,he then goe's on to put alonso out knowing that the corner it happend on can ony hav 1 car through it,what did button think?alonso would disapear or run across the grass?.Fact is button new wat he was doing and lewis will 100% pay him backUnbelievable.... W1zzo & Pantera, what are you on? - I am guessing you are either both Alonso fans, or heralded the days when the mighty red baron won everything in sight - EVERY race driver has the darker side, it's called ambition - and it's what seperates a good driver from a greta one - Button showed determination and a never die spirit on the track - that's what got him into position to take the win. Yes, luck was involved, good luck on Button's part, bad luck on Vettel's. This is what happens in RACING - The odd scuffle along the way on a track as slippery and twisted as Canada with walls waiting to claim victims is to be expected. You should not be criticising Button for the incidents, rather the rashness and stupidity of the other drivers - Hamilton launching a banzai move up the inside of a spray laden straight - and then Alonso's supreme arrogance that he could just turn across the Mclaren of Button and expect the Brit to move over - Stpuid moves - Stupid drivers at the time, result? They're out of the race. Have the decency to applaud a little talent when it shines won;t you both?
Does anybody know just how many overtakeing moves Jenson made during the race?
Button once again shows that a smooth driving style can win races. Good show!
A bit like being at the Dodgems eh Button, Knock out the oppositon first then have loads of Luck
mark.stockman you are spot on. Well done to Jenson
what are you lot on about when he passed alonso he had the inside line and the better position then alonso thought he could carry more speed through the corner and go around the outside, alonso wrecked his own race thinking that button would bail but he didn't need to as it wasn't his fault.
amazing, so many comments from so many people that could only have watched the race in Mondays newspapers. To all of you who believe Button cheated/got lucky, I suggest you watch the race and pause the tape on the Lewis/alonso incidents, yes Button looked left, but Lewis was still directly behind him at that point. As for Alonso, he truly believes no-one can or should overtake him and acts accordingly, see Button actually in front before alonso turned in. Recognise great driving and stop whingeing.
pantera1834, a1wizzo and tbk50 are all alts of the same person. Isn't it bad enough that you already have a retardly distorted view of the events of the race that you then have to compound it by logging on alts to agree with yourself?
Comment on this article
Please sign in to add your comments.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario