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Button: 'Some dangers are unnecessary'

Jenson Button is still unhappy with aspects of the Baku City Circuit, saying "some dangers are unnecessary" after driving the track for the first time.

The McLaren driver voiced his concerns regarding the lack of run-off areas and pit entry layout in Baku on Thursday having run the track earlier in the day. Following Friday practice, Button said he had discussed his point of view with FIA race director Charlie Whiting and had not changed his stance after three hours of track time.

"I spoke to Charlie this morning and he assured all the right checks have been done, but driving the circuit is never going to make you change the way you feel about it," Button said, speaking before the drivers' briefing. "I haven’t hit the walls, so I don’t know how it feels… Nothing has changed in my mind.

"Formula One is a dangerous sport, we all know that, but some dangers are unnecessary. Some of the pit lanes we race on are a certain way, for a reason, and this one isn’t… It’s a strange solution for a problem – that’s it, really."

And Button still cites Turn 7 as an area of concern due to the lack of run-off at the right hander.

"In terms of the proper track in some places you have good enough run-off areas, even if it’s tricky because you have to reverse in some of them if you go straight – but that’s fair enough. Turn 7 is the toughest one because if you lock up there you’re straight into the wall. The fast circuits are fun, it’s quite different to have such fast corners in a street circuit.

"The FIA is always looking at the circuit, I think there’s issues with the kerbs that need to be looked into and it will definitively be solved for tomorrow, because it’s cutting tyres. I think in the race we’ll get a lot of overtaking down the straight, so that will be quite fun, but it’s also quite bumpy and the sparks make it more spectacular for the fans. We’ll go racing and see what happens."

Before Button spoke, Lewis Hamilton said F1 drivers "moan so much" and "want to take all the character and life out of these tracks". The FIA is making changes to a number of kerbs around the circuit following Friday's problems, while the pit lane entry will also be reviewed.

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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.