Malaysia: Jenson in the post race press call

JB talks to anyone
By Phil Huff (21/03/2004)
March 21 2004

Lucky Strike BAR Honda lead driver Jenson Button secured a podium place in the Malaysian Grand Prix, and that gave him a new experience - the post race press conference. Here's what he had to say...

Q: Jenson, you must feel elated. The moment is yours, talk us through your emotions?

Jenson Button: Amazing. You know it's as much the team's as mine. They've worked so hard for this. It's obviously not the pinnacle of what we want but it's a good step in the right direction, so I'm ecstatic and I can't wait to get back to the team and congratulate them.

Q: You did a superb job throughout the race, a little bit of a race there with Jarno Trulli early on and then I guess, late in the race, when your team-mate's engine went, that might have been a bit of a worry was it?

It was a little bit, yes, but I also touched Jarno after the start, we hit wheels on the straight so that was a little worry, because I thought something might be wrong. But everything felt fine and I had a good fight with him for the first few laps in the damp conditions. And it was great to have a gap to the car behind me, because here, for the last two years, I've had cars breathing down my neck on the last lap, so it's nice to have a bit of a gap.

Q: Jenson, that was an extraordinary difference to Melbourne because you were right up there all the time but there you lost places and here you gained them. What has turned it around?

Melbourne was the first race on the Michelin tyres, obviously, so we got a lot of information in that and we realised what we were lacking in after the race and I think we have really changed it around, which is great.

Q: In fact, earlier on in the weekend you weren't very happy with the tyres so you are obviously still learning a great deal.

We just found it difficult to find a balance. If we had a bit too much understeer it would lose us a lot of lap time where as I didn't want an oversteery car going into the race so it was a little bit difficult finding a balance but we were able to, which was good, and thanks to all the guys, they did a great job.

Q: The strategy seemed to work well. Did anything not work well?

The start was okay but as I went around Webber, Jarno was on my left side and we touched wheels, which was actually quite hard, and I thought there would be something wrong with the car but it seemed to be working okay, which obviously I was very happy with, and then we had a good little race together, myself and Jarno. It was an enjoyable race, not just great to finish third I enjoyed the whole race.

Q: Takuma raced well as well, so is this really the arrival of BAR?

I think we have done a great job over the winter, we really have made a good step forward and that is everyone in the team. Everyone is really positive, which is great. There is not one person in the team that is negative and we are just making little steps forward every race, getting used to the tyres and we are very happy.

Q: Jenson, can you describe the emotion of this moment. I know it's not a win but it's a podium and it has been 68 races in coming so it must be quite some feeling.

It is. I love you guys very much but I can't wait to get outside really and see the team because I know they are going to be ecstatic and so am I. It's a great feeling we've worked so hard, and this is the first time in my career I have been on the podium in four years so it's been a struggle but with a lot of hard work it is a fantastic feeling to be here. It is a step in the right direction.

Q: Jenson, you talk about making a step forward. Looking to the next races over the year, how do you guys think you are going to go?

It would be nice if we could be as consistent as we have been here, that is what we have been fantastic at. Qualifying we seem to be pretty consistent but I don't know, we have to wait and see. Things can change within the season as we saw with Williams last year, they seemed to be able to make a huge step forward. We hope we can move forward at the same time as all the other teams.