Spain: Jenson Button Qualifying Q&A

Jenson, out in the very last minute of Q3 and what a lap it was.

It could have gone very, very wrong. We timed it quite well I think. But then I had (Robert) Kubica who I thought was on an out lap and I had to let him past when he caught me up. The guys said you have got four seconds in the last sector. Four seconds is slower than a proper lap time to get across the finish line, so I had to get a gap as I didn't know if he was going to continue and I only got across the line with a couple of seconds to spare. So yeah, more luck than judgement in getting out at the end and by far the best lap I have had this weekend. All weekend this guy has been tremendous and all the way through qualifying and I found it very difficult to sort of hang on to him on the low fuel. But I got the lap on the high fuel, so yeah, very happy. This was a bit of a surprise in a way, so when I heard I was on pole when I crossed the finish line it felt pretty good.

We have seen some progress from some of the bigger named teams, if that is the right word, behind you but at the moment it looks as if you still have that amazing advantage.

I am not sure it's an amazing advantage being on pole by was it half-a-tenth or something.

I refer to the team's performance.

Yeah, I think as a team we have done a great job and this package is a step forward. I think we still need to work with it a bit more. I don't think we have got the maximum out of it yet. I hope we haven't anyway. But everyone at Brackley has done a fantastic job and I am sure they are all watching this now, feeling very happy with themselves as they should do. Both of us in the top three and I think over the weekend we have been trying lots of different things and we have found the right direction. I am very happy with our performance but it is very, very close and I don't know what lap Sebastian is stopping on. It is a nice feeling to be back here. I am on pole and the last two races I was not even near the press conference, so it is nice to be back here. It's a great position to start from tomorrow but obviously the Ferrari is very quick. Surprisingly quick in Q2 and they have got KERS, so it is going to be a tough race tomorrow but I am excited. I didn't think I would be sat in this position at the moment.

Yesterday you were quoted as saying you weren't particularly happy with the balance of the car, with the new parts, so what changed from yesterday to today?

Well, some of it was because we were looking at how quick Rubens was, so obviously we looked at his set-up, took some parts from it which I think helped us quite a bit. In a way I'm very happy that Rubens was quick all through the weekend, it helped me in a way. So this morning the car was already a bit better but coming into qualifying, I knew that we had made improvements but I didn't how much of an improvement. Qualifying was a bit of a strange one because in Q2 I couldn't get anywhere near Rubens's times. My laps weren't bad. I had a bit of rear movement which is never my favourite but when we put the fuel on board, the car felt as it had done this morning, so I was much happier with the balance. So yeah, a little bit of a surprise to be on pole. I knew it was a good lap when I crossed the line but I didn't know what other people had done, so when I heard my engineer on the radio saying I was on pole, it was a pretty amazing feeling because it was also a shock to the system. Great to be here and hopefully we've got the pace tomorrow.

Given all the modifications that are on all the cars here, it must be quite a relief that you're still right up there.

Yeah, I don't know that anyone's really gone that much quicker except for the Ferrari. They've been competitive today and in Q2 Felipe was within two tenths of Rubens's lap which was obviously pretty exceptional, so they're quick. I think we have the legs on them at the moment but they're closing very, very quickly and I'm surprised, so they're one to watch over the next few races, for sure. Our package is an improvement; personally I don't think we've got the maximum out of it over this weekend but it's a definite step forward and everybody at the factory should be very happy with what they've achieved but we can't stand still, we need to keep moving forward. I know they're working very hard on improvements for the next few races.

You nearly didn't get that last lap; you just made it by two seconds. What was the team telling you?

Well, they wanted me to go out as late as possible and I agreed with that because I needed everything to really get a good lap. Shov [Andrew Shovlin] told me that Kubica was on an out lap, so when he was coming down the pit straight I guessed he was just starting his timed lap and then they said ‘you've got to let him past, let him past.' I did and then they came on the radio and said ‘no, stay in front of him, he's on an in lap.' So I was screwed then. I was stuck behind with four seconds to spare in the last sector but I had to get a gap, so I had to take the risk of dropping back, getting a gap, else it was pointless anyway. I crossed the line with two seconds to spare and obviously got the job done. I'm very happy and this is by far the best pole I've had because it was unexpected, it was very unexpected. As you probably know, my old boy, as we call him, Papa Smurf is always at the races but my mum has come to this one, so I'm glad that she's here on Saturday when we've qualified on pole.

Are you aware of just how crucial pole is here bearing in mind that the last eight winners and the last thirteen of the fourteen winners have started from pole?

No, I didn't, didn't know the stat. We don't normally concentrate on who's on pole, we haven't for the last couple of years anyway. I know it's important because it's difficult to overtake here. All of the cars around us have been very quick on long runs, so I wouldn't say we have an advantage on a long run. P1 for sure is an advantage. I've just got to hope that I can stay there into turn one. As you know, we've both had some difficulties at the start this year but the starts that we have made properly have been very good, so I'm hoping for one of those starts tomorrow.

I'm really interested in the mental side of the step from your first run in Q3 to your final run because Rubens and Sebastian both improved by seven tenths but Jenson found a second on that final run, which is what made the difference, so mentally what are you thinking to yourselves, where are you finding that extra time and how did you find a second within yourself?

For me it was the weirdest qualifying because with Rubens, for example, I thought I had the edge in Q1 and then in Q2 he set a blistering pace and I don't really know where that came from. My laps weren't exactly bad but I was surprised that he had so much more pace. In Q3 I changed the balance of the front wing a little bit because I was struggling with the rear end coming round in Q2 and that was costing me time on entry and as you all probably know, that's not my favourite thing. The rear calmed down in my first run in Q3, so I thought I could probably add the front wing back on for my new tyres and I could and it all came together. It was the right balance for that moment in time on the circuit. I knew I had to go hell for leather because Rubens was doing a very good job and it was very close at the front. I wasn't thinking about where I was going to qualify, I was just trying to get the best out of it and you could say it looked like a messy lap on TV but it's a very strange circuit here in qualifying and there's very low grip and you do have to throw the car around a bit and I had to do that which is unusual for me. I think a lot of it does come naturally, the feelings and everything, because if you think about it too much, it doesn't work for sure.

The first eleven drivers in Q2 were faster than last year's best time by Felipe Massa in Q2, on an aero circuit where cars are supposed to have less grip this year. What do you think about cars getting faster and faster? Is that what the FIA was looking for?

For me, aerodynamically we have less downforce and we have more drag, that's the way that it was supposed to be and that's the way it is. But we've picked up a lot of time with the slick tyres. I would say that the slicks are probably two to two and a half seconds quicker than the grooved tyres, so we've picked up there but obviously we've lost a lot in downforce. Some of the reasons were because the cars were getting too fast through corners but also some of the reasons for the change was to help the racing. Some drivers might say that it doesn't help the racing but I think watching the races this year there's been a lot of overtaking manoeuvres and if you look at the cars this year they look a lot more difficult to drive. We've had the quickest car for a few of the races this year and it's not an easy car to drive. It's very, very twitchy and if you watch them on TV they are twitching around all the time which makes it easier to make a mistake and other drivers can capitalise on that. For me the regulation changes are positive for many reasons: first, the racing for me has been fantastic and that's not because I'm leading the championship; watching the overtaking moves on TV…

Ferrari looks to have made the biggest step forward. Do you think they might be a threat tomorrow for the podium? Or looking at the long runs and everything do you still feel confident that you still have some advantage?

Well, I've heard that KERS gives you ten meters from the start to the first corner, so that's quite a lot – just to let you know – so that's a problem, for sure, starting from pole. If he (Massa) gets a very good start as well it could be a problem for me. I think it's just going to make it a bit crazy into turn one more than anything because when one car is coming into the first corner a lot quicker than the others in front of him, it could cause mayhem, especially with quite a high speed corner like this one. So it's about keeping your nose clean at turn one and that's going to be difficult for all of us. But as you say, the Ferrari has been quick and they are going to be quick in the race also, I think. They've made a big improvement, as you would expect really.

The FIA has decided on a point system for next year. I can imagine that Jenson might prefer a medal system; can I have an answer from you three about the FIA decision?

For me, yeah, I would love the medal system this year. I think any driver would who has won three races. For me, I would rather it was more 10-6 points for first and second, rather than medals. Points have been the way for many decades in Formula One and to change that is the wrong thing to do, personally, so I think the points system is a good thing but I've never been in this position before where I've won three races and I'm (only) getting two points more than second place. I understand why people have found it frustrating in the past, since we've had this 10-8-6 system. For me it would be nice if it was 10-6 but next year it might be a very different situation, so I might not be sat here on pole position in Barcelona, so we've got to wait and see.