Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Button: 2001 has been Harder than Expected

Briton Jenson Button admitted on Thursday that the 2001 Formula One season had been tougher than he expected.

Briton Jenson Button admitted on Thursday that the 2001 Formula One season had been tougher than he expected.

"I didn't think it would be this tough but I don't think a lot of other people did as well," said the 21-year-old, who made an impressive debut with Williams last year when he became Formula One's youngest ever points scorer.

"Next year is the year that we are concentrating on and I think we've got to now. But we still have to push very hard this year and get everything together for next year," he told a news conference at the British Grand Prix. But he added that his Benetton team, with a car recognised to be uncompetitive, were not to blame for all his difficulties.

"A lot of the problems haven't just been the team, I've also had my own problems. The car has been quite difficult to work with but the good thing is that I'm more confident now than I was with it and I'm getting to grips a little bit more with it now. It was a matter of confidence among other things."

Button, fifth at Silverstone last year, has failed to score any points this season and has not qualified higher than 16th so far. His best finish was seventh at the Monaco Grand Prix. Others have voiced concern about his form, with fellow Briton Eddie Irvine saying recently that Button was "struggling big time."

Benetton boss Flavio Briatore was quoted as saying in Thursday's Daily Express that he believed something was wrong with Button's form but he did not know why.

"We need to start working together. He must have complete support from the team, from everybody," he said. "Jenson is young and has had success too soon and now he needs to sit down and consolidate. He needs to be deeper in our business with fewer distractions.

"Jenson must be more involved with the team, with the engineers, to try to understand what is wrong and sort it out."

Button also appeared to take a subtle swipe at his replacement at Williams Juan Pablo Montoya.

Montoya has been impressive in his debut season in Formula One but he has outqualified his teammate Ralf Schumacher just once, in Austria, and Button believes he could have bettered that.

"It could have been me (at Williams this year) and I think I possibly could have outqualified Ralf more times than once," said Button, who hopes to return to Williams after 2003, when he believes the team will be regular front-runners by then.

"If Williams are winning (in 2003), which I think they will be - they'll definitely be at the front, then yeah, I think it would be a good team to race for. I think Frank Williams sees through his problems more than most people do which is good, and we worked very well together last year.

"He knows what I can do, and it's great to hear him say good things. It's good to see them winning because of the sort of things they say about me and the respect we have for each other, and they would be a great team to race for in the future."

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article The Championship is Not Over, Says Schumacher
Next article British GP postcard

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe