Button claims pole at last gasp

Raikkonen’s despair was in stark contrast to Button’s elation at a very special lap that negated the superiority his teammate Barrichello had enjoyed up to that point, the Brazilian having been consistently quicker through practice, reflecting his form at this track during winter testing. Barrichello’s body language on finding himself pipped yet again by a teammate who seems unable to do anything wrong this year told you his scale of disappointment.

It is all about the different driving styles of the drivers and how that dovetails with the different way a F1 car handles on low fuel loads and high loads. With a low fuel load the cars tend towards tail-sliding over-steer, something better suited to Barrichello’s more aggressive, improvisational style than Button’s super-smooth precision.

A higher fuel load moves the weight distribution towards the rear of the car, tending to give more of a run-wide understeer balance that Button’s precision minimises. “This is such a low-grip track that you really have to throw the car around a bit, and that’s not something I generally like doing,” said Button. Such were the circumstances that led Button to rate this as the best of the six pole positions he has now secured.

Button’s closest rival in the championship, Vettel, turned out to be closest to him on the grid too. The pair are separated by eight years in age but their regular appearances together on podiums and at press conferences this season are bringing a jokey rapport between them that is edged by competitive tension, the pair clearly enjoying their rivalry. Putting that to one side, there was an acceptance from Button of the level of threat Vettel represents in today’s race. “We’ve seen from the practices that the Red Bulls and Ferraris look just as quick as us over a stint duration, so I’m not anticipating an easy day,” he said.

Given the backdrop of Ferrari’s progress, Button is all too aware that he needs to maximise his opportunity while he still can. If big-team budget seems to be placing Ferrari back into the reckoning, it is not doing the same at McLaren. Lewis Hamilton wrung the updated car’s neck but could place it no better than a disappointing 14th on the grid. A raft of new development parts, including a twin diffuser, were fitted but Hamilton — who seems to be finding adversity difficult to deal with outside of the car — did not bother to hide his disappointment. At this track, where the quality of a car’s aerodynamics are more crucial than at any other track, the McLaren was 0.9sec a lap slower than Button’s pace. As Hamilton turned surly while answering questions about the car’s performance, it was difficult not to draw a contrast with how Button has conducted himself through many years of such adversity. His reward has surely come.

Mark Hughes writes for Autosport magazine

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