Button: Sunday qualifying no problem
Jenson Button believes drivers and teams will have no problem adapting to qualifying and racing on the same day in Japan
After the race director was forced to call off qualifying due to the poor weather today, the grid-deciding session will take place five hours ahead of the race on Sunday.
The situation is a repeat of what happened at Suzuka in 2004.
"It is pretty easy to get your head around, we just have to get up earlier," said Button. "It is a much longer day for us but I quite enjoyed it when we did it here five or six years ago.
"I liked having the qualifying in the morning because you are really buzzing after whatever happens and it is good going into the race in a positive mood."
He added: "t is a very difficult situation because we want to be out there as much as anyone on the circuit, but we know that this is impossible to drive an F1 car around, when the tyres are not touching the road or you are not driving the car, you are not in control of it at all.
"So it is sad we are not able to run today and I really feel for the fans that are here, it is pretty horrendous weather here, they have come to watch us qualify and they have not been able to see us driving at all, it is tough for them and I feel sorry for them and all the people who have been watching qualifying or getting up early in the morning or late at night in Europe or US, it is pretty tough for them but there is nothing we can do about it."
McLaren Team-mate Lewis Hamilton also reckons the change doesn't alter things much.
"I don't think it is any more pressure than it is a on a Saturday, you have P3 and if you damage it in P3 you cannot qualify so it is the same going into tomorrow," he said.
"Depending on the weather even if it is dry tomorrow it is still very tricky as you are pushing the car to the limit and you have to go sometimes over the limit to get your qualifying lap, but we should be okay and it has been done before so we should be okay."
Despite doubts about how the weather could affect the session tomorrow, team boss Martin Whitmarsh is confident there will be qualifying nonetheless.
He said: "The options that they had today was to continue to delay until it got dark trying to qualifying, that the stewards could decide as they have done to put qualifying in tomorrow morning or if there is no qualifying then they can start the grid in race number order which we are not averse to but I suspect we are not going to get.
"One way or another I suspect there will be some qualifying tomorrow."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
Hamilton: Ferrari F1 switch doesn't need "vindicating"
The story behind Shanghai's "painted" F1 track surprise
How drivers need to multi-task in the high-tech world of modern endurance racing
Why Button is embarking on his new challenge in the WEC
Acura’s Daytona 24h hopes hit by Albuquerque stoppage
Bottas: Permanent fix for Sauber F1 pitstop woes "by Imola"
Quartararo: Marquez's Honda MotoGP exit "woke a lot of people up" at Yamaha
How national entries in the first month of the season stack up
COTA: F1 and MotoGP double-header possible but not probable
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
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