Q & A with Jenson Button

Q. Some people have said your recent problems have been in your mind, what do you think?

Jenson Button: I haven't actually read anything about it. You hear from people.

Q. Of course you're not going to say that you are feeling the pressure...

JB: No, I'm in a good place.

Q. You have won six out of 12 races, which in past years would have easily won you the championship.

JB: Exactly. If you look at it like that, it is great, and I have a 16 point lead, which is a good position to be in as the championship is coming to a close. There are five races still left. I'm looking forward to every race.

Q. The medals system would have solved your problems.

JB: It would've been nice, wouldn't it? But that's not the case, and it's this way, and this is the way it's been for decades, so this is the way it should be.

Q. Fernando Alonso has said that when he won his two championships, by this stage of the season it was constantly in his mind. Do you find that?

JB: No, I think I was, but I'm not so much anymore. I've been thinking about this race and getting the car into the best possible position we can, and spending a lot of time talking to my engineers about how to set up the car.

Q. So have you managed to switch off from the title pressure?

JB: Not really, I think it's just experience of being in the situation.

Q. Earlier in the season the car looked really good over kerbs, should that translate here?

JB: It should be nice on kerbs. It does ride kerbs well, and there are a lot of low-speed corners here. The highest speed corner realistically is a third gear corner. That's good for us.

They've put these big kerbs in now. It's very like Barcelona, very like the Nurburgring. So you can't ride on them now, which is a bit of a pain. Both chicanes have big mountains of concrete. So it changes the style of driving around here a little bit. Maybe it's not that important to have a car that rides kerbs that well. Our strong points are riding kerbs, but also mechanical grip and downforce at low speed.

Q. You said earlier that experience is helping you, but you've never been in this position before.

JB: No, but I've been in this position for months now.

Q. What's your view on the Renault situation?

JB: I think I'll save my comments until there is fact, or not.

Q. But can you imagine a driver crashing deliberately?

JB: You can't imagine a driver doing that, no. But I don't want to comment on the situation because we don't know if that is the case or not. We'll find out in a few days.

Q. Who do you think is your biggest opponent, and why?

JB: It seems to be someone different every weekend, which is a good thing - people taking points from each other. Rubens has been doing a good job, but he's been doing a good job all season. The last two races, he's done better.

Q. Will the championship be decided internally by Brawn?

JB: No, that won't happen, it's not like certain teams in the past. But Rubens [Barrichello] is a hard competitor. I know exactly what his equipment is, it's the same as mine.

The Red Bull is a car that works on different types of circuit. It should work okay here, but the circuit where they should be strongest is in Japan, at Suzuka. But I'm sure they will be working on improving the car for slow speed corners, I'm sure we'll see them competitive.

Q. But what about the drivers?

JB: I don't know, it's difficult. Within Red Bull, they've both been quick at different circuits. I suppose that's always going to be the way when you've got two very competitive drivers. [Sebastian] Vettel you'd say has had the upper hand in qualifying at most races, not all of them. But in the races you'd say that Mark [Webber] is always strong. If he stays out of trouble, which obviously he didn't do at Spa, he's going to be very strong in the races. It's difficult to know between them.

Q. There's not one you've singled out in your head?

JB: No, it's both of them, and also Rubens, but it's not about me controlling them, it's about me doing the best job I can. Instead of looking back, looking forward.

Q. Will the lack of KERS hold you back here?

JB: KERS is important here. The McLarens and Ferraris, I think they'll be very strong. Renault I'm not so sure, as they haven't run KERS for some time. It's going to change the balance of their car quite a bit round here. So I'm not sure if it will really help them except at the start.

So it's better with KERS, but we'll do the best we can without KERS. It's been a problem for many races. At least our main competitor in the championship doesn't have KERS, and that's the important thing for us.