Jenson Button says it is ‘unusual’ for him not to perform in wet-weather conditions after a last-place finish in a rain-affected race capped a tough Brazilian Grand Prix weekend for the 2009 world champion.
Button had entered round 20 of this year’s Formula one season with high hopes of McLaren-Honda emerging as the fourth quickest team, but he found himself on the back foot as early as qualifying when he was eliminated in Q1 for the third time in four events.
The Briton, whose finest moments in the sport have come in mixed-weather conditions, was not able to make much headway in a wild contest at Interlagos, settling for 16th and last amongst the finishers.
“I could have put anything on but finishing last… it’s unusual in the wet, normally I am pretty good,” a dejected Button said afterward. “There is definitely something wrong. I don’t think I have forgotten how to drive in the wet.
“We need to work out what it is. On Friday the car was working really well, I was comfortable with the car, high-speed very strong… Then in qualifying nothing, and in the race it was just exaggerated because of the conditions.”
Button’s struggles were put in a harsher spotlight with team-mate Fernando Alonso recovering from a spin to grab the final point on offer in Brazil, having made up more than 37s on the other MP4-31 in the final segment of the race alone.
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