Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

Qualifying conditions were 'on the limit' - Button

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Jenson Button says conditions in qualifying for the United States Grand Prix were "on the limit" as rain continued in Austin.

After qualifying was postponed on Saturday, the session got underway on Sunday morning despite more rain falling, with the FIA insisting all drivers used full wet tyres throughout the session. With conditions deteriorating further during Q2, the final part of qualifying was eventually cancelled.

Asked if it was responsible to run qualifying at all, Button replied: "It’s on the limit.

"Low speed corners you don’t mind aquaplaning but in a high speed corner like Turn 10 that’s proper scary, and where [Carlos] Sainz went off as well. The problem is you don’t know how deep it is, you don’t know what it’s going to feel like when you get there and until you get there. So it’s very tricky.

“The last long right-hander as well, the quick one, again you don’t know suddenly when it’s going to break away. So it’s really difficult. It’s not the correct conditions to drive because you are not in control at all.”

With team-mate Fernando Alonso running a different specification of Honda power unit and out qualifying Button, the 2009 world champion admits it's hard to judge if there is any progress being made in such conditions.

“It’s wet so I’m not really sure, but I didn’t have a very good run anyway. In Q1 it was OK, in Q2 when I went backwards at Turn 10 I think the tread works in a very different way once it has gone backwards and suddenly you have no rear grip. I heard a lot of people struggle with it, I did it on my first timed lap which is a pain but anyway I’m still here now and I’m safe so I’m happy about that.”

Rosberg takes pole as Q3 cancelled in Austin

AS IT HAPPENED: United States Grand Prix qualifying

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.