Jenson Button has described his win in the Chinese Grand Prix as the best of his career, having once again triumphed in inclement weather conditions.
Staying out on slick tyres during an early shower proved to be just one of a number of factors that won him the race.
Passing Mercedes pilot Nico Rosberg for the lead, controlling a safety car restart, and managing an increasingly greasy track late in the going while on worn intermediates all contributed to a satisfying day for the Briton.
“For me it is my best victory,” said the 2009 World Champion.
“Every time that you win I think it becomes your best victory, but this one was very special as it was very tough conditions and the great thing is our pace was good today. It wasn’t just the luck of calling the weather, we had good pace.
“It was a tricky race out there and again we called it right. It is not just about being quick, it is about reading the conditions and obviously coming across the line just one second in front of Lewis shows what a team effort this has been.”
The Safety Car was deployed twice during the event, once for an accident on the first lap caused by a spinning Tonio Liuzzi, and subsequently on lap 21 to retrieve pieces of Jaime Alguersuari’s front wing. The latter allowed all those who wrongly pitted for intermediates during the first shower to catch up to the back of the race leading McLaren.
“The Safety Car for clearing debris off the circuit was just … I had my heart in my mouth when that happened,” he said. “We had built up such a good gap and then, unfortunately, everyone else caught up, so it made it very tricky.”
Despite having won two of the four races run so far in 2010, and taking the championship lead in China, Button is wary of predicting a second championship just yet.
“We still don’t know where we are in the dry,” he said, referring to the speed of the Red Bulls and Ferraris. “But we are going to forget about it at the moment – we are just going to enjoy this victory in the wet.”
