Jenson Button believes he struggled more than his rivals on the softer Option tyre in India on Sunday, with the McLaren driver enduring a difficult opening stint of the race. An early pit-stop saw him rejoin just behind the Lotus of Romain Grosjean, but once in clear air he cemented a fifth place finish and claimed McLaren's 150th fastest lap.
"The start of the race was my highlight, there were just millimetres between Lewis, Fernando and me. I’ve never had a start quite like that before – unbelievably hard-fought – and none of us hit each other. It was so close, so tight, yet so clean. It’s just a pity that the rest of the race wasn’t as enjoyable!
"My first stint was pretty disappointing; I think maybe we struggled more on the Options than the other runners did, so I couldn’t keep the guys behind me. I then made my pitstop earlier than anticipated, so that we could find a better balance on the harder tyre, but that didn’t work out because I got stuck behind Romain, which lost me more time.
"But getting fastest lap on the final lap was great, and I think there’s plenty of potential that we can build on and take with us to Abu Dhabi next weekend."
Button will be hoping to continue his run of podium finishes at next weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, having finished third on every occasion since its debut race in 2009.
Series
Formula 1
Personalities
Jenson Button
Teams
McLaren
Other
DTM Tickets (best price guarantee!) at Sportstadium.com
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:31:10.744 |
| 2. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +9.437 |
| 3. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +13.217 |
| 4. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +13.909 |
| 5. | J. Button | McLaren | +26.266 |
| 6. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +44.647 |
| 7. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | +45.227 |
| 8. | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | +54.998 |
| 9. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | +56.103 |
| 10. | B. Senna | Williams | +1:14.975 |
| Full results | |||
| Jenson Button | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| More Jenson Button photos | |||
English
Nederlands
Español
Italiano
