Button hails “possibly my best win”

2011 Canadian Grand Prix

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Jenson Button, McLaren, Montreal, 2011

Jenson Button called his dramatic last-lap victory in the Canadian Grand Prix “possibly my best win”.

Button said: “I really don’t know what to say. It’s been a very emotional three hours or however long it’s been since the start.

“The incident with Lewis, I couldn’t see anything when he was alongside me. I couldn’t see anything in my mirrors, it was one of those things, and I’ve apologised to him.

“And then it was really a fight. I got a drive-through for speeding behind the safety car I had to find my way through about three times.

“Eventually, on the last lap I was chasing down Seb, he ran a little bit wide onto the wet part of the circuit and I was able to take the opportunity and take the win.

“But for me, a fantastic race and I think even if I hadn’t won today I’d’ve enjoyed this race immensely. An amazing win and possibly my best”.

2011 Canadian Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    54 comments on “Button hails “possibly my best win””

    1. Wow – just wow.

      1. Wow indeed. But is his “victory” not still provisional and dependent on a steward’s investigation?

        For the record I don’t believe that Button deserves a penalty but let’s see…

        Di Resta makes a move at the final chicane (“standard” overtaking position). His competitor moves over and there is contact. Di Resta causes no damage to his competitor’s car and gains no advantage (in fact he is greatly disadvantaged by a damaged wing), but is given a drive through penalty.

        Button makes a speculative move at turn 3 (an almost impossible overtaking place). His competitor gives him space but Button can’t make the apex and there is contact. Button causes his competitor to spin out of the race, escapes damage himself, and in the process unfairly gaining a position, yet it seems will not be punished at all?

        Elitism (or just cowardice) from the stewards?

        1. The problem with your statement is that turn 3 is an overtaking spot (even if it wasn’t, theres no rules about where you’re allowed to overtake), and Button was actually fully alongside on the turn in. Di resta’s made an elementary mistake. I agree it was harsh to give him a drive through for it though

        2. If I remember right, Jensen got a flat tyre from that collision, didn’t he?

    2. I tend to agree with him. Exactly how we want to see him. Gutsy, desicive and fast.

      Hope we see more of that this year.

      1. Aye… 3 things we could do with seeing more often from him though!

        1. Hmm… a great win? Or clumsy and lucky?

          He was treading water for 80% of the race: took two of his competitors out; two punctures; drive-through for speeding.

          He got away with this all of this only because safety car bunched up the pack towards the end.

          In drying conditions he obviously had by far the fastest car and was able to use his DRS (i.e. slam-dunk button) to breeze past a few competitors. Woo?

          It seems that Jenson’s “great” races always take place when Lewis is out of the race. If Lewis was still in the fight towards the end I think Jenson would have been overshadowed somewhat.

          1. Clumsy and lucky? Neither incident was his fault and its not that his car is best in drying conditions, its that he’s the best driver when its like that. Watch any race with changeable conditions and he always aces it.

            As for the drive through, I find it a bit strange that you’re using that as an example of why he’s rubbish when Lewis (who you claimed would have eclipsed him) was under investigation for the same thing! (Which I also find strange, wouldn’t that have been at the start then when everyone was bunched up?)

          2. Are you sure you’re a racing fan? I mean, yes, you’re entitled to your opinion, but what??

            Button stopped more times than most other drives, got a drive-through and still managed to race from last to first and pressure the world champion into a mistake to take the win. He fended off his superb teammate, too, as a real racer should do.

            Have you really no praise whatsoever?

            I guess if that had been Lewis, you would have been hailing an amazing victory and applauding the stewards for not giving him a penalty for once?

          3. Completely agree laird18.

            It’s funny how people are now praising Button for his mature and sensible driving. Hamilton should learn from him.

            The reality is that Button had an incredibly poor race up until the last few laps.

            He was just lucky the safety car made up for all his blunders. Besides, he was pretty much the last man standing (after he took out Hamilton and Alonso and Webber obviously seemed to be struggling without KERS)

            Impressive last few laps though. Of course people only remember those and not the first 52.

      2. These races are the one that prove he’s a worthy world champion. He was awesome to watch.

    3. What a race, great drive from Button!

    4. Possibly? For sure!!! I’m saying this as a Ferrari&Alonso fan!

    5. one of the greatest wins of all time, prehaps the most dramtic for a long time

    6. Really a nice drive from Button! It was nice to see him progress from 20th to 12th then up to 4th with the SC pits.
      I feel sorry for LH: it really was one of these moments… Seen from above, i don’t think JB did anything wrong, as with the Alonso incident really…
      He might well get a bit of a momentum with Monaco and now Canada.
      Nice to see Lewis cheer when he saw JB taking P1: his reaction really seems genuine.

      1. I’m sure his reaction was genuine. Whatever he felt towards Button at that moment, he would be delighted that Vettel would only pick up 18 rather than 25 points…

        1. No, I think that Lewis was genuine, and because of what he and Button both said in a pre-season interview: “If the other guy wins, I’ll be thrilled for him – but gutted for me.”

          That’s reasonable.

    7. Epic race. Jenson was amazing and truly deserved his greatest win. A lesson for Lewis?
      If only he had tried to pass jenson on the left…
      Hope no further penalties dished out as everyone got what the deserved in the end.
      This is the greatest sport, with the most amazing story lines. You would not believe it in a film!

      1. A lesson for lewis? How? It was neither drivers fault for the collision and was simply one of those unfortunate things.

        Fantastic drive from Button though and fully deserved.

        1. Patience my friend

        2. Lewis needs to learn that not every gap is big enough, and that there isn’t only one door that opens up during a race. There will be more opportunities during a race, make sure you take the right ones.

          1. How do you know upfront that someone is going to turn into you?

            Button made a pretty big mistake coming out of the chicane. So that was a fair opportunity for overtaking. How can Hamilton know that Button will put him in the wall?

            1. Because he could see Jenson closing the door gradually, while Jenson had pretty much no knowledge that Hamilton was even behind him. Hamilton could see it coming, Button was clueless

            2. Still, how could Hamilton know that Button doesn’t use his mirrors?

          2. It was a legitimate opportunity. Even stewards analysing the situation admitted that. How is it a lesson for Lewis?

    8. Great sportsmanship to come out and say that about the incident with Hamilton, he would know that the media would be desperate to have any glimmer of a fall out to pounce on. Great drive.

      1. I picked up on that and was very glad he said sorry immediately, without being prompted about it. He’s defused a whole media storm with that I reckon.

    9. I thought that the McLarens were unlucky to come together, especially as they could have been on for a 1-2 on this evidence. Vettel fairly slowed down towards the end though, but Jenson was on fire, he disappeared from Schu and Web

      1. I don’t understand why Vettel didn’t pick up the pace much sooner, as he clearly had a 1 or 2 seconds extra in him whilst they were stuck behind Schumacher. Jenson closed in knowing the track limits whereas Vettel hadn’t pushed himself or his car enough.

        1. I have a feeling that they have an engine mapping that they can switch to which gives them much more power but possibly at the expense of poor fuel economy. No proof but it seems strange that they can suddenly go much quicker and also have such amazing qualifying pace, while real race pace is not nearly as good. It also explains how Vettel appears to have such a quick car from safety car restarts.

          1. Now you mention that, I suspect Vettel was in “cruise mode” to save his engine for future events and perhaps RBR failed to anticipate how quickly Button would catch/Vettel making a critical error.

    10. Possibly? If he can’t name one better, then make it the best.

      1. Maybe he’s thinking of his 2006 first win???

    11. Amazing race!

      Anyone know if button got the most overtakes ever in a GP? He came through the field a few times!

      1. ooh, I’d like an answer to that too please!

        1. The Last Pope
          12th June 2011, 23:16

          Yeah, I think we only saw about 1 third of his passes.

      2. A lot of his overtaking was done due to pit stops and SC timing as well.

    12. This was epic:
      “The curious race of Jenson Button”

      1. Haha. Nice! :)

    13. 10 second penalty for button?

    14. Brilliant stuff from Button. When he has the car to win he is really great.
      So smoothe behind the wheel.

    15. **** Me

      Went from being annoyed, frustrated, angry, bored, excited and bored again to then being blown away by best race for a long time….

      That was just…great….

      1. I second this big time. As a Hamilton fan, This race hit a low point early one. However, it ended as possibly the greatest drive I’ve witnessed in my short career as a F1 fan (since 2007) . Just superb! I was jumping at the end. Just wow! I am ecstatic for Button, happy for Mclaren, flooded with a sea of “what if’s” for Hamilton…

        That’s the kind of day it was.

        1. +1 Love to see Mclaren up front. I am a Button, Hamilton, and Mclaren fan.

    16. Totally deserved. Well done Button!

    17. @LewisHamilton  sorry about incident in Canada. I appreciate that Jenson is your team mate however, I hope that the stewards fine him for the car accidents. It should not be one rule for some and not all drivers. Otherwise I will conclude that there is more politics in F1 and most importantly McLaren camp.

      Please be more observant about your camp! Us on the outside can see what’s going on!

    18. makes me laugh really had it been hamilton that had hit alonso and took him out of the race everyone would be going crazy. Drive thru for lewis, stupid from lewis,
      Also if roles were reversed and it was lewis moving over on jenson and put him in wall, drive thru. (anyone remember monza 08 when hamilton passed glock then pushed him too grass, the pro drivers went nuts saying he dangerous)

      Jenson does it racing indcident, its the double standards I have a problem with,

      I dont think jenson should get a pen but I tell you, had it been Lewis would have been drive thru

      1. I think you’re probably right. The Alonso one is still under investigation, right? I’m worried…

      2. For some reason drivers like Button and Webber never seem to get a penalty.

        It’s probably because they always act so friendly. Always smiling, always kidding. People just can’t imagine them doing anything wrong on purpose.

        How many accidents has Webber caused over the last few seasons? I don’t think he ever got any penalty at all.

    19. Button must be penalised for his incident with Alonso. Maybe that way Schumacher will get his first podium since his comeback. :)

      http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/7274/krash.jpg

      1. Well he wasn’t penalised, but that’s a pretty unfair image. Button was almost completely alongside Alonso in the braking zone.

    20. Great drive by Button. Deserved that win and showed again that Mclaren is really the fatsest team on race day. But very sad for Hamilton. What if Button left little more room, it was Button’s fault really. We could have seen Lewis vs Button vs Vettel for the lead in the closing laps.

    21. I watched this race with a friend who didn’t think much of Button. In fact, he disliked him because of the fact that I cheer for him to much for his taste.(he likes more hamilton) But, when Vettel made that mistake, he shouted for him. It was his odd day, I guess, he was EVEN happy for Schumi!!!
      ANd nobody can say that a driver that recovers from 21st to 1st in 30 laps had a bad race, as some posted earlier. Between his many changes, he always recovered fast to 9th or 10th.
      I agree he had some luck too, but he put pressure on Vettel and he made his first important mistake of a perfect season.

    22. He will certainly be remembered for that effort, probably just as much as his championship year! A great effort from him. Seeing him fly down the back straight with his DRS open was incredible, so much speed!

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