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Question: Jenson, some good news overnight that you had signed a multi-year deal. Can you give any more details?
Jenson Button: You always want more. No, I can’t. But all I can say is that I am very happy. I think this is a great opportunity over the next couple of years to really work closely with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes. We are so close to fighting with Red Bull, but yet so far. I think it is good to have the continuity going forward for the next couple of years. It is going to help us take the fight to them next season, I hope. That’s what we are working towards. It’s been a good couple of weeks. I have been enjoying racing and it is nice to finally sign on the dotted line and get a deal in place for the near future.
Question: I got the impression there were maybe one or two other teams in the frame though?
Jenson Button: I think it is all speculation.
Question: We saw you do a little shopping earlier on this morning. The motorcycle shop down the road. Did you buy anything?
Jenson Button: No, I was checking out some bikes, but it wasn’t for me, it was for someone else. Have you been following me?
Question: We were just talking about you, myself and a colleague, and there you were.
Jenson Button: I do do other things except race Formula One cars.
Question: You have got a pretty remarkable record here. I think I surprised you last year when telling you that you’d finished all 10 of your Japanese Grands Prix. And as you finished last year it is now all 11. Is it a circuit that you enjoy and obviously a circuit where you would love to win?
Jenson Button: Yeah, I would love to win here. It is a circuit along with Spa and Monaco, they mean a lot to all of us. It is such a challenge driving around here for one lap in qualifying, but putting every single lap together is a real challenge and doing it quicker than anybody else is a real challenge. Yes, it would mean a lot to me to win here at Suzuka. That’s our aim this weekend. Whether we are quick enough or not we will have to wait and see but we are in the hunt and I am looking forward to a fun weekend. Hopefully, we can get up there.
Question: Do you think on occasions over the last few Grands Prix that you have had the quicker car? Do you think you still could have the quicker car but it is dependent on which part of the weekend, what they have brought?
Jenson Button: Yeah, I think on occasions we have been on a par with the Red Bull. Sometimes I have felt that maybe we have had a little bit more performance but I don’t think we got the best out of what we had. The last race we weren’t quick enough to win. Sebastian and Red Bull did a great job. Even if you are a few seconds behind it doesn’t mean you had a chance of winning. Here it is a little bit more like Spa. Obviously it is probably higher downforce than around Spa but it is a flowing medium high-speed circuit. Our car worked well in Spa and hopefully it will be the same case here. This circuit is normally reasonably difficult to overtake on but with the goodies that we have, with the Pirelli tyres, with the KERS, the DRS, we should see some really good racing around here.
Question: Jenson you’re the last man who has a mathematical chance of stopping Sebastian from winning the title. You’ve also secured your future. I was wondering if you thought you were more content and driving better than even in your championship-winning season.
Jenson Button: I thought I drove pretty well through my championship-winning season, especially the first part of the season but I’m definitely a better driver now: the experiences that I’ve been through - good and bad - since then; it’s pretty traumatic when you’re fighting for a championship and you’re struggling for pace, so the experiences I’ve been through and the confidence that I have now and the team that I’m working with - they definitely help my performances. Am I more content? I don’t know. I’ve been pretty content over the last few years, in terms of racing and in terms of private life, so that’s not making a difference.
Question: Which kind of circuit do you prefer, Suzuka where the run-off areas are so short, where there is the pleasure of risk, as you all say, or Istanbul where you can make mistakes, run wide onto a different asphalt area and come back?
Jenson Button: I don’t think it’s the case here that the barriers are close to the circuit. I don’t think it’s an unsafe circuit to race on. I think that you can’t make a mistake because it’s not asphalt in a lot of places, so you touch grass or you’re into the gravel, you can end your day early. It’s very unforgiving in terms of stopping the car. It’s not unforgiving in terms of having a big accident, so the safety is not an issue here but I think we find it exciting knowing that if we do make a mistake then we get punished for it and that’s why a lot of drivers really enjoy racing around here and a lot of new drivers find it quite difficult in their first season when they come here, in terms of pace, or find themselves off the circuit in a gravel trap somewhere.
Question: Jenson, Sebastian always mentions the tiny chance that you still have of winning the championship; what do you think about it?
Jenson Button: I think it’s great, going into this race, Sebastian thinking that I have a chance of winning the title. He’s probably the only person here… or the only person that’s saying so. It’s all but over. I think for Sebastian, he probably doesn’t want to think about it until after the race because after the race, when the championship’s actually done it’s a big buzz to cross the finish line and win the championship and I’m sure that’s something that he’s looking forward to but he doesn’t want to think about right now, and especially to discuss with us lot here. For me, this is a circuit I’d love to win on, I think we all would. It’s all about the challenge and to come away with a victory here would be very special. I’m sure it would be overshadowed by a certain person winning the championship but it would still be very enjoyable for myself.
Question: Jenson, can you just talk a little bit about your relationship with Japan, what kind of things do you do when you stay here? Do you ride the metro, for instance? And how has your impression changed since the first time you visited the country to now?
Jenson Button: I obviously don’t have as many connections to Japan as Kamui does. I came here for the first time in ’96, I was racing karts and it was a real shock to the system, as a 16-year old, coming to Japan, it’s such a different culture. At that point in time, where I was, I didn’t understand anything, the road signs, street names, anything, because everything was in Japanese. It was very difficult as a 16-year old but I really enjoyed coming here because it was something very difficult and I also loved racing here in Suzuka, because I raced here in ’96 and ’97 around the go-kart circuit which is just before 130R. I don’t know if you’ve ever got out there to see it but it’s just like the Grand Prix circuit, it’s phenomenal. For me, it’s the best circuit I’ve driven on in karting. I had some good times then, but obviously a lot has changed from ’96 to now: my experiences of being in Japan and obviously spending five or six years with a Japanese team, working with a lot of Japanese people and now being with a Japanese girlfriend. So I have a lot of very good connections. I spend quite a bit of time here training, relaxing, eating good food. For me, it really does feel like home even though I don’t really speak too much of the language, a few words, the words you need to know. Anyway, I’m going to stop there! Yeah, the Japanese people are very strong. Obviously we’ve seen a couple of big disasters this year in Japan, and we’ve seen how strong the Japanese people are, and how they’ve really pulled together when they are in difficulty, so I think we can all learn something from them, and we should, and try to help out as much as we can and Kamui is doing a lot this weekend, and I’m sure quite a few of the drivers are. We are always going to try our best. Is it enough? I don’t know. My crash helmet is very similar to what I had in Monaco, so it’s all in Japanese, and I will be auctioning it off after the race, which will go to a Japanese charity which will help the people that have been affected by the tsunami and the earthquake.
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