Valencia (Spain): Drivers world championship
leader Briton Jenson Button was upbeat today when he reflected
on the positive side of seeing his Brawn GP team-mate veteran
Brazilian Rubens Barrichello winning European Grand Prix.
Despite finishing only seventh in a demanding race on the
streets of this Mediterranean port city yesterday, he managed
to increase his championship lead over Red Bull rivals
Australian Mark Webber and German Sebastian Vettel.
Button said, "It ended up as a bit of struggle for me,
but I take more positives than negatives from this one - and
it is great to see Rubens winning. The team have asked me to
push harder now if I want to win the title..."
Barrichello's first win in five years not only lifted him
back up to second in the drivers' title race, it also
confirmed the two Brawn men as the front runners again after a
spell of three races without success - though, as Button
said, he would rather have not lost so many points to his
partner.
Button said, "Yeah, it is very unusual for your team-mate
to take eight points out of you in one race. Rubens did a
fantastic job.
"He has been very quick all weekend and I have struggled
to be on his pace. But in qualifying I screwed up, which cost
me time. I double shifted out of Turn Five and hopefully we
can rectify that problem as I did it in the race as well."
"Starting fifth, I thought we could have a good race, but
Vettel came across at the start and if I had stayed flat I
would have ripped my front wing off. So, being back in the
pack - although I know fifth is not back in the pack - it was
a bit crazy.
"In a way, I got two points and I was lucky to get those
points. I was down in ninth at one point, behind Webber, and
with Sebastian up in fifth.
"But in the end neither of them got points and I got two
points, so it is a positive day -- but it is also a day where
our car was strong and, as my team-mate proved, there were a
lot more points on offer and it just didn't go my way," Button
said.
Button added that he would have collided with Vettel in
Turn One if he had not lifted off.
"The most important thing for Vettel is to beat me and he
came across and I had to lift.
"Now with the next race at Spa coming up so quickly I
have to move on and put some strong scores back on the board.
Rubens' win shows we have found our performance again and it
is down to me to follow suit."
Barrichello's 10th career win and first since the Chinese
Grand Prix of 2004 spread joy all round the paddock.
The Brazilian said, "This is so sweet and I am glad it
has come at last! I am a guy who doesn't think on the
frustrations, and doesn't work on the negatives. I work on the
positives, and the fact that Jenson was winning was only
telling me that I was going to be able to do it."
"I have always thought positive. I'm a hard worker, and I
love being able to win a race like this - and hopefully I can
win the next six," Button said.
Button heaped praise on Barrichello for delivering
Brawn's seventh win.
"It's been five years for him and he deserves it," said
Button. "He knows I mean it when I say well done to him and
great job this weekend."
Also celebrating for Barrichello was his compatriot
Felipe Massa, recovering in Brazil after his accident at the
Hungarian Grand Prix.
Barrichello carried the message 'Felipe - see you on
track soon' on the back of his crash helmet and pointed to it
after the race.
Massa, watching in Sao Paulo, called to congratulate and
thank Barrichello. "I felt very emotional when I saw his
helmet with a design intended to homage me," said Massa, who
confirmed he will travel to the United States on Friday to
see specialist doctor Steve Olvey in Miami for a detailed
examination of his head injuries.
Bureau Report
First Published: Monday, August 24, 2009, 18:08