Question: Jenson, you soaked up all this pressure with Fernando and then you blinked first in the pit stops. What happened?
Jenson Button: Yeah, the start was good. Fernando came over quite a bit at the start but I had enough room to squeeze up the inside into turn one. Then the rest of the first lap was pretty tough as the straightline speed these guys have compared to me because I am running high downforce made it very tricky to hold off the challenges. I spent most of the race looking in my mirrors and making sure that Fernando wasn’t close enough. It is so difficult around here to know whether the car is right up behind you or not, so I was watching from the TV screens to see the distance he was behind. A lot of pressure. I don’t think we quite had the pace today compared to these guys. But it was all going pretty well. I was pretty happy with the car but then we decided to pit one lap earlier than Fernando. For me when I exited the pits I had very little grip on the prime tyre. Lots of shuddering which means the tyre isn’t working, so little bit disappointing to find myself in that position and Fernando coming out of the pits in front. But we had a good weekend and to come away with a second is a great result. You want the top step but some good points and for all three of us here we have done very well for our championship hopes, so it is good heading out of Europe with a good points finish.
Question: Tell us about the start in a bit more detail. Just how close it got with the two Ferraris into the first corner.
Jenson Button: I couldn’t see Felipe. I got a very good start and I could just see Fernando. He was able to brake very late into the first corner which surprised me a little bit. But I was able to hold him off. I got a good exit out of the second corner, the second part of the chicane which was always my worry. Getting a bad exit there and Fernando could come out of my tail and then turn me into turn four. It didn’t happen. It was all looking very good but quite a tough race mentally to have Fernando behind me for most of it. But I came home second which is one off being perfect, so I am pretty happy and just looking forward to the rest of the season.
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Formula 1: Pole Sitter Fernando Alonso Wins Italian Grand Prix
Formula 1: Italian Grand Prix - Race Results
Question: Jenson, first of all the wing strategy. How do you feel about it after the race?
Jenson Button: I think it was the right choice. For me the start was very good and we calculated down to the first corner that I should not lose ground because of the distance and the effect you get from the F-duct and the braking. It went according to plan, probably a little bit better according to plan the initial get-away anyway. I was leading. I didn’t feel the touch with Fernando. Looking at the footage there were quite a lot of bits that fly off. I don’t know if it’s from Fernando’s car or mine. For me the race was pretty tough as I spent the whole time looking at my mirrors trying to judge how far Fernando was behind. Their straightline was obviously a lot quicker as I had a lot more downforce on the car. It was very difficult to judge as the mirrors are shaking. But I was able to defend and keep him behind me the whole of the race I was on the circuit. He didn’t really get an opportunity to overtake, so for me everything was going smoothly. Mentally pretty draining and then we pitted one lap earlier which possibly was a mistake. The team think that the prime tyre was better than the option and it probably was a better tyre. I agree with that. But for me when I went out on the prime tyre I couldn’t find the grip on the first lap and that’s for me where I lost time. I think we made a little bit of a mistake there but second place is still good. It is good to get some good points. The team did a great job in the pit stops and staying nice and calm throughout the race and giving me as much information as they could. A happy day but obviously you want to finish first, so it is good for the championship but at the moment it is sad not to be on the top step.
Question: You think it was just that out lap where you really lost it?
Jenson Button: Yeah, I didn’t have the pace that I expected to in the race. These two were super fast the whole race. I didn’t get more than 1.4, 1.5 seconds away from Fernando the whole race, so it was very tough. I had to push the car very hard. I was surprised at how close these guys could get through the corners. I thought I would pull out a bigger gap with the amount of downforce I was running but it wasn’t possible. Today we had a very good car but I think these guys had the slight edge, so congratulations to Fernando and as I said it is great for the championship. I have got some big points here, 22 points behind Mark who is leading, so I have pulled back 13, so it is a positive day and we can look forward to Singapore.
Question: Jenson, we saw that (Sebastian) Vettel pitted on the last lap. Is that something that you could have done, to try to keep him behind, or was that never an option?
Jenson Button: I think everything is an option, you‘ve got to keep your eyes open to every situation. We obviously thought it was the right decision to come in a lap earlier than these two but looking at it now, I don’t think it was the right call. These are difficult situations when you’ve got 0.5s lead, whether you stop a lap earlier or whether you stop a lap later, so it’s a tricky situation and I don’t feel that it worked for us today, but even so, we’ve got a good result out of it today and hopefully we will be as strong in Singapore because this was a great weekend for me and a great weekend for the team, so I look forward to more challenges in Singapore.
Question: Jenson, the difference between you retaining the lead and being second seemed to be created in the pit stop where you were 4.2s and Fernando was 3.4s, so you were just 0.8s behind there. Is that just one of these things, or was it a bit shoddy?
Jenson Button: The pit stops are always very tricky. The guys have practised over the weekend but I am the first pit stop for the team when I come in. It’s always a tricky situation. For me, the pit stop went pretty smoothly. I was quite happy with it but I didn’t know that Fernando was that much quicker. So we lost time there but also for me, out on the circuit, when I got back out I struggled on the tyre. I could feel that I was losing time even to my option tyres which obviously weren’t in fantastic condition. It wasn’t all the pit stop, I think. It was also maybe the wrong call on our part of choosing to come in early.
Question: Jenson, even if you didn’t win, do you consider this is one of your best races considering the different conditions in which you had to fight against and it was also good news for you when you heard Hamilton was out?
Jenson Button: I didn’t know until the end of the race that Hamilton was out. I obviously didn’t know that Mark had had a bad start but it wouldn’t have made any difference to me anyway. I wanted to get my head down and concentrate on being consistent because for me that was very important. If I made a mistake in one of the corners and got a bad exit onto the straight that would have been a nightmare because these two were beyond me. It was a tough race but most races when you are at the front are never easy. It was a challenging race and a race I was really enjoying. To come away with a second place is great, it’s 18 points. I’m 22 points behind the leader now and in the new points system that is not a lot at all, it’s less than a grand prix win, so it’s not a bad position to be in. I’m fourth in the championship and there are a lot of possibilities this season, so it’s a good result, a good solid result but obviously a little bit disappointed not to stay on the top step.
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