McLaren’s Jenson Button will ignore the drivers’ championship and target beating Sebastian Vettel on a race-by-race basis after winning in Hungary.
The Englishman admitted that failing to finish the two previous races had made his chances of catching the Red Bull driver in the Formula One championship very slim.
“Coming here I just got my head down and focused,” said Button.
“I have to beat Seb in every race from now on, and we’ll go out and try and do just that.”
Button said McLaren intended to make the most of the momentum they have established when the season resumes in Belgium in three weeks’ time.
“We’ve won three out of the last five races, so it’s been pretty good for us,” he said. “We will enjoy the break but we will be thinking about Spa every day.”
With eight races remaining Button is fifth in the drivers’ championship, still 100 points behind leader Vettel. The manner of his victory in the 200th grand prix of his career confirmed Button’s mastery in testing wet-dry track conditions, as McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh acknowledged.
“Those were very, very difficult conditions this afternoon, and it was easy to get it wrong, but Jenson drove a great race,” said Whitmarsh.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
“His measured yet combative drive was a testament to how naturally smooth and smart he is on the racetrack, and he really deserved this win.”
“I’m always lucky with these conditions,” smiled Button, who started third on the grid, behind Vettel and McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton.
“You are not always going to make the right call, but I feel I’m pretty good at making the right call when it comes to tyre choices.
“We had good pace today and I was able to make the soft tyres last, but the reason why we won today was because we were quick — if it hadn’t rained, it wouldn’t have made any difference.
“I knew I was in good shape, the car was working well for me. I thought it was a matter of time in the dry conditions to get the jump on Lewis because at the end of the stints he was struggling.
“It turned out a little bit different with the rain coming down, but I had a lot of fun all the same.”
He suggested he had intended to ignore a McLaren pit-lane instruction to follow Hamilton into the pits to switch to intermediate rain tyres late in the race, a call that was quickly rescinded.
“I was never really going to come in for ‘inters’, I didn’t think it was the right choice,” said Button. His win means both he and Hamilton have two victories to their name this season.
