Zoom Button on top form ahead of home race

With six wins from seven races, Jenson Button has every reason to feel confident ahead of his home race at Silverstone. The Brawn Mercedes driver has some way to go to equal Michael Schumacher’s 2004 winning streak, but another win this weekend really would place him firmly on track for the world championship.

“I come into this race confident with the package that I have,” said Button who has 61 points from a maximum possible of 65. “The last few races have been fantastic and it has been a dream start to the season.”

Team-mate Rubens Barrichello has so-far been unable to match the pace of Button on raw speed on race day, but the Brazilian veteran has had his share of problems in terms of strategy and gearbox issues off the line. Brawn GP Team Principal has already talked up Barrichello’s chances this weekend at a circuit where he has excelled in the past and this is something Button is well aware off, along with the Red Bull Renault challenge from Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

“This is a circuit that I enjoy driving and I know my team-mate enjoys driving here a lot also, so he is going to be good competition this weekend,” Button continued. “In Turkey we expected the Red Bulls to be very quick in the high speed turn eight. I don’t think they had an advantage which was surprising.”

“I am happy with what we have,” he continued. “We have got a little update aerodynamically, only small, but it’s about the small parts. You just keep building on what you have and hope it is going in the right direction. We will have competition here but I am happy with what we have and I am confident in the car. We have just got to hope in a way that we have a better Friday than we have done in the last few races because even though the end result has been great, working from where we were is quite stressful and I think in that environment that you can make mistakes, so we have got to hope that we get a reasonable balance tomorrow, so we can get some good testing done and hope we get the balance right for the weekend.”

Now in his ninth season in the sport after some fairly poor seasons with BAR and Honda, Button is making best of the Brawn Mercedes opportunity and claims he has no regrets over some rather dubious career moves in the past.

"Formula One hasn’t changed over the last decade or so, or two decades," Button said. "It’s a team performance and when we stop talking about what percentage a driver is and what percentage a car is we can get on with the racing and concentrate on having fun and enjoying it."

"The car is a big part of it but it’s a team effort, it’s every single individual and when you win the World Championship you win it as a team and it’s the same if you don’t do very well, you lose it as a team, and that’s the way it has been for many, many years. I’ve always said that I think the decisions I have made or what I have had to deal with, I wouldn’t change it as it makes it who you are. Now I have got the opportunity to show and to achieve with a very good team and a very good car. In a way it makes it very sweet for me."

Another win for Button would move him at least 28 points clear of Barrichello, meaning he could afford to finish second in every remaining race with his team-mate winning all and still claim the title.

Earl ALEXANDER
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