Button questions prime-tyre strategy
Jenson Button has questioned whether it was the correct strategy for him to remain on the prime tyre for the majority of the Japanese Grand Prix, while his rivals began the race on 'option' Bridgestone and pitted sooner
Button finished the race fourth behind the two Red Bulls and Fernando Alonso, but only passed team-mate Lewis Hamilton late in the race when the sister McLaren ran into gearbox problems.
"I thought the others would struggle on the options at the start of the race, they didn't," Button told the BBC. "I wasn't really able to push Fernando, and I had Lewis right behind me.
"We need to look at the data but to stay out when everyone else pitted was probably the wrong thing. Maybe you should cover the people that you are racing and we didn't do that.
"At the end of the race when we did put the option on it was great. The car had a lot of grip and I was very fast. We weren't quick enough to beat the Red Bulls and the Ferrari, possibly not," he added.
"Just got to look at the data and see why we stayed out for so long, I think it was 40 laps. It was quite a tough race on such old tyres. I don't mean we would have finished any further up but I think it is just useful information for the future."
Share Or Save This Story
Archive: How Button achieved a rare Formula Ford feat
Why the Nurburgring 24 Hours is better than ever
Is Forza still king of the gaming hill?
Button takes Goodwood Members’ Meeting win in E-type Jaguar
Button switches from Williams to Aston Martin in F1 team ambassador role
“No regrets at all” – Why Button is happy with his decision to retire from racing
BTCC Donington Park: Sutton storms to final victory of opening weekend
WEC Imola: Toyota denies Ferrari home win in season opener
Huff wins Goodwood Members’ Meeting Super Touring Shoot-Out
Nurburgring 24h Qualifiers: Scherer-Audi wins as issue wrecks Verstappen's chances
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments