Jenson Button: “You can’t always be on top”

" It's strange, expresses Jenson Button. Even though this season has been very difficult, I am still very excited to go to a Grand Prix. » The 2009 world champion ensures this, despite the great lack of competitiveness of the McLaren MP4-28 this year, the Briton has lost none of his motivation. “I think we can still do a great job. I have not lost this enthusiasm, even in difficult times and it makes me realize that I really love this sport. » While the halfway mark of the season has been reached, the Woking team is currently in an unflattering 6th place in the Team ranking, with 57 points, 2 less than Force India.

After regularly fighting for the podium and victory during his first three seasons with the English team, Jenson Button is now struggling to score intermediate points. But these are things that happen in Formula 1, He explains. “I've had some pretty difficult seasons and I've also had some fantastic seasons. It's normal to have a complicated year in your career. We can't always be on top. We just have to work to overcome it and when we do, we will feel very special. » So the most experienced driver has no doubt about the ability of his team to return to the forefront.

By producing for this season an MP4-28 described as " revolutionary ", where many teams are content to develop their car last year, the Woking team took a risky gamble, which did not pay off. Which did not prevent her, according to Jenson Button, from reacting very quickly. “It's amazing how quickly we were able to adapt and change the aerodynamics of the car, the airflow and so on, he details. But the problem is that now we are far behind the leaders in terms of development. » However, the native of Frome, always optimistic, does not rule out scoring a victory during this second part of the season? “ When we then get on the podium and especially on the highest step, I think that the whole team will not only get up, there will also be a lot of excitement, a lot of adrenaline and a lot of emotion because we we worked so hard together. »