F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Button urges McLaren to not leave 'anything on the table'

Jenson Button has urged McLaren to stay calm and ensure it does not leave "anything on the table" starting from third place in today's Austrian Grand Prix.

In mixed conditions on Saturday, Button excelled to finish fifth in qualifying before being promoted to third on the grid as a result of penalties for Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel. Button was delighted with the result and while he is not willing to predict where he can finish in the race he simply wants McLaren to make the most of the opportunity.

“When I crossed the line and the guys said I was P5 I was obviously ecstatic," Button said. "We were P5 because we did a good job. Fair enough we got lucky to be P3, but I think if you take P5 sometimes you've got to have luck on your side, which I don’t feel I have had in qualifying this year.

"Of course I’m going to be happy. I think it’s a great result for the team. It’s never good when you have two cars that are too separate with one car in P3 and Fernando back in 13th or 14th, but of course I’m ecstatic.

“I think the most important thing is we’re in a great starting position, we’ve made the race a lot easier for ourselves. Now it’s about keeping our heads, giving our all and not leaving anything on the table.”

And Button says he celebrated on Saturday night as he is aware of how difficult it will be to keep faster cars behind him in the race.

“Yeah it was great. I enjoyed myself last night and had a small glass of wine and enjoyed the day! I’m looking forward to today, it’s pretty mixed isn’t it? It’s still wet, it was raining earlier.

“It definitely mixes it up and I guess makes it more fun but before the race you’re always a little bit apprehensive when it’s raining. I’m looking forward to it, it’s a fun circuit to drive.

"It’s not going to be the easiest circuit for us to keep cars behind to be fair - unless I just take my mirrors off and then maybe we’ll be OK - and we’ll see what we can do. I’m excited for the race and we’ll see what the weather throws at us.”

QUALIFYING REPORT: Hamilton on pole from Hulkenberg and Button in Austria

Breakfast with ... Alexander Rossi

F1i Classic: Penske's emotional Austrian GP win

Silbermann says ... Gin is the only tonic

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

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.

Recent Posts

Ferrari's Sainz 'not satisfied with where we are' in Vegas

It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…

51 mins ago

Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…

2 hours ago

Hamilton delighted with ‘consistently strong day’ in Vegas

Lewis Hamilton was particularly happy with his opening day of running at the Las Vegas…

3 hours ago

Verstappen stuck with 'draggy' rear wing for Vegas

Red Bull fears that its prospects for this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix - which…

4 hours ago

Ferrari and Mercedes admit to plank changes based on FIA’s TD

Ferrari and Mercedes have both modified their car’s floor element in Las Vegas to comply…

5 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Hamilton continues on top in second practice

Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes on top of the timesheets for the second time in Las…

6 hours ago