Button says he is surprised by his lack of speed

Jenson Button said he was surprised by the lack of speed in his car during qualifying. However, the Brit minimized his earlier comments about the session being disastrous. The championship leader expected to fight at the front after a convincing Friday, but instead, the Brit found himself outside the top 10.

Button qualified far behind his teammate, Rubens Barrichello, who qualified 5th but will start from 10th place due to a gearbox change. The British driver admitted he was surprised not to be faster.

« It was a strange and difficult qualifying for us, » said Button to reporters. « We had a very good pace all weekend, and it’s strange not to be faster. I even think Rubens wasn’t happy to be in P5. I think we hoped for better. Moreover, with the fuel load he has, I don’t know if it’s less than the drivers in front of him. We have to wait to know, but he saved two or three laps by making his mistake. »

« But it’s a circuit where we thought we would be very fast, and so far, in qualifying, we haven’t shown it. It’s strange to see how things go and how the races seem to be. In some races, we are very fast and in others, we struggle more, especially when it comes to qualifying. It’s the same thing for Red Bull. »

« Mark [Webber] did not score any points in the last three races, while Vettel did, which is much less than he would have hoped. And now they are back. It’s a unique season with ups and downs. »

Jenson Button said he was embarrassed by his lack of speed and disappointed to be qualified so far behind the Red Bull drivers, with Sebastian Vettel in second and Mark Webber in fourth.

« Suddenly, we were struggling a bit more in Q2, and it’s difficult to know the reasons. Being 12th is very disappointing, » he said. « Rubens is just ahead of me due to his gearbox change and probably with a bit less fuel, so we can still achieve great things. »