Jenson Button in 2002
Jenson Button in 2002Finished 6th
Post race quote
"It's great to get a point for the team and myself. It has been an up and down season, but has been good for my experience. It has been fun working with the team and I wish them all the best for next year."
Talk about the race on the messageboard
Finished 8th
Post race quote
"Eighth isn't really best ever. Giancarlo (Fisichella) pushed me onto the grass at Turn 2 and I didn't have much luck at my stop, coming back out in the middle of a big group of cars. We raced with less wing than some of the others, but although I was quicker down the straights, I was losing too much time on the exit of the corner before the straight (Turn 11). I pushed all the way but when there are so few retirements, it's hard to do much better!"
Talk about the race on the messageboard
Finished 5th
Post race quote
"Not a bad race and a pretty unexpected result! To be honest, the race wasn't that exciting: after the start, I had to get into a rhythm and look after the car, avoiding over-revving and just driving very precisely. We changed strategy, which paid off when we were able to jump in front of Salo. The car wasn't perfect during the race: I had some oversteer in the first part, which became fairly major understeer after my pit-stop, but I managed to speed up in order to keep Panis at bay. This result reminds me a bit of Hockenheim last year, when we got both cars into the points on a circuit which didn't really suit us on paper."
Talk about the race on the messageboard
Retired
Post race quote
"Honestly, there's not much to say. We had improved the balance of the car a lot by the start of the race - the car was better than it had been all weekend. Irvine was holding me up a bit, but I couldn't get close enough to try anything at the end of the straight. Then I heard something strange on the exit of Turn 7, and lost power. I couldn't do anything but retire."
Talk about the race on the messageboard
Retired
Post race quote
"I've had a tough weekend here. We made the decision to start on used tyres because we were worried about blistering in the hot conditions. The start was pretty good and I went round the outside at the first corner, which meant I had the inside line for the left-hander. I touched Montoya on the exit, but it didn't damage the car. Then I just started gradually losing grip, and I had a lot of oversteer. Just before my first pitstop, Davidson went off in front of me and after avoiding the incident, I put the right-rear wheel on the kerb as I was braking for the corner. It was simply my mistake."
Talk about the race on the messageboard
Retired
Post race quote
"What can I say? I had understeer from the start, possibly because of a problem with the differential. After that, I lost engine power: we fixed the problem by switching off the traction control, but that obviously made it even harder to drive the car. Then the engine cut out on the long straight at the back of the circuit. It's been a weekend to forget!"
Talk about the race on the messageboard
Finished 6th
Post race quote
"It's good to score another point for Renault, and particularly here in France. I was managing to keep up with the leaders at the start of the race, even though I had a little less fuel onboard. After my first stop, I was delayed by Heidfeld, who was much slower. As for the extra stop, I had major oversteer on the third set of tyres, particularly into turn three. Given that we were a long way in front of the next car, we made sure of getting to the end of the race and changed tyres. I'm pleased to have scored more points, but there's still a gap to the top three teams."
Talk about the race on the messageboard
Finished 12th
Post race quote
"I was pretty happy at the end of the first lap, making up four places at the start! Everything was working well at that point, even though I was struggling a little with understeer in the dry - we didn't quite get on top of the problem all weekend. At the first stop, I had to wait for Jarno to finish, which obviously cost me time. Afterwards, the car wasn't too bad in the wet, but the Bridgestones were simply flying. It then got harder and harder as the track began to dry. At the end, I noticed that the front left wheel was starting to move about. I must thank the team for their reactiveness at the stops - they had to work hard today! It's obviously not the result I had hoped for at Silverstone, but at least it was exciting for the crowd."
Talk about the race on the messageboard
Finished 5th
Post race quote
"The team did a great job, especially with the set-up of the car. It was hard for me at the start of the race but once the rear tyres had worn in a little and lost some grip, the balance was very good. The only problem was getting stuck behind Panis after my first stop. I couldn't get past him, and lost quite a lot of time because of it. Overall, I had a very good race, and the team did a fantastic job."
Talk about the race on the messageboard
Retired
Post race quote
"I made a decent start, and was tenth at the end of the first lap after a good battle with Villeneuve. Salo got past me during the first part of the race, but the temperatures started going up at half-distance. I stopped early to try and fix it, but unfortunately it didn't work. I retired when the engine simply cut out - I don't know what happened."
Talk about the race on the messageboard
Qualifying
After a disappointing race in Austria for Renault things were looking much better in Monaco. Both Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button were showing blistering pace in the practice sessions and a top 6 position on the grid seemed possible. Unfortunately, Jenson was not able to make the most of his Renault being held up in traffic on his runs. 8th place was where he finished, but with the good launch and traction control on the car, points were expected for the race.
Race
Jenson's race was over much soon than expected. As the lights went out Jenson could be seen on the move. He had jumped the start and messed up the launch control. This dropped him down to the back of the field as he struggled to get the car going, and he was also given a penalty for jumping the start. At the back and with overtaking impossible, Jenson struggled to make up places. He resorted to a brave manoever when he came up behind Panis, but Panis didn't seem him and they went off, putting both cars out of the race. A disappointing end to Jenson's Monaco GP, but there was some encouragement from team mate Trulli's 4th place finish.
Retired
Post race quote
"I think I just got a little excited at the start! Once you lift off the throttle, the launch control doesn't work any more, so I had to wait for everybody to go by before I could get going. After that, I was a bit surprised to be penalised as well, but once I got into clear air the car was working well. Then again, being quick is one thing, but overtaking at Monaco is another! As for the accident, I could see Panis was struggling with his rear tyres, so I tried to pass him at Sainte-Dévote. He didn't see me, and just took his normal line. It's a shame, because the weekend had promised a lot more."
Talk about the race on the messageboard
Qualifying
The Renault's seemed to be struggling in Austria, finding it difficult to get a good balance on the car. Jenson lost a quick lap due to a red flag in the qualifying session and was also badly affected by traffic. He only managed to get 13th on the grid, but he was ahead of his team mate.
Race
Jenson was able to make up a couple of places at the start of the race, and was also a benefactor from the two safety car conditions which allowed him to move up into 7th place behind David Coulthard, however, as much as Jenson could push he was unable to make too much impression on the Scot.
Finished 7th
Post race quote
"Once again, it's a disappointing end to the race. The car felt good all day, even though we were losing some time out of turn two. Towards the end, I was as close as I could get to Coulthard - there really wasn't anything else I could do."
Talk about the race on the messageboard
Qualifying
With the Renault getting stronger and stronger Jenson Button came to Spain hopeful of some points. The weekend started strongly with Button qualifying in 6th place. Once again he had a battle with David Coulthard for grid position and ended up ahead of his rival Brit.
Race
Jenson Button made a brilliant start to the race and looked like overtaking Kimi Raikkonen to take 4th. However, Kimi squeezed Jenson at the first corner and Jenson sensibly backed off to avoid an accident. He was pushing very hard and looked to have the measure of DC who was behind. However, after the first pit stop Jenson's performance seemed to go off and he struggled to keep ahead of DC. DC eventually got by and Jenson was forced to let Trulli by to try and keep with David. However, Jenson continued to have problems with his cars handling and eventually the hydralics failed on the car. He was forced to retire 5 laps from the end, but was classified as a finisher.
Finished 12th
Post race quote
"I'm big time disappointed. The car wasn't fantastic at the beginning of the race, with high-speed understeer and oversteer in the slower corners. We didn't manage to adjust the car to correct it during the pitstops, and then I had the hydraulic problem. The steering got very heavy and it was as if somebody had switched the electric off towards the end! As for the Raïkönnen incident, I didn't see anything - I was too busy trying to avoid the wing on the track!"
Talk about the race on the messageboard
Qualifying
Jenson Button had a good qualifying session missing out on beating his team mate by just two 100ths of a second. Both Renault's were in 8th and 9th. Unfortunately Nick Heidfeld in his Sauber pipped them to take the best of the rest honours. Nevertheless it was a good position to fight for points with.
Race
Jenson made a brilliant start but was held up by his team mate which allowed the McLarens to stay ahead, however, Jenson made a place on Nick Heidfeld and took up station behind his team mate. An excellent pit stop from the team and some fast driving from Jenson allowed him to leap frog his team mate and start chasing David Coulthard. David was ahead but not enough to prevent Jenson going past when Coulthard made his stop. Jenson was in 6th place and in the points. David couldn't seem to catch Jenson either and when Kimi Raikkonen retired his was given another place. It was a brilliant race from Jenson and he claimed after that it was his best race of his career. Well done Jenson.
Finished 5th
Qualifying
Again Renault seemed to take another step forward at the Brazilian GP and were running in the top 6 in warm up, so hopes for Jenson to get a good grid position were high. Jenson qualified in 7th position and was just half a second off the pole time. Hopes for another points finish were high.
Race
Once again both Renaults managed to make great starts leap frogging the McLarens and able to keep them at bay for the first half of the race. Jenson was passed by Coulthard prior to the first stop but impressively kept up his race speed. The Renault was once again reliable and he got to the end of the race to find himself in 4th position for the 2nd race in a row. However, it can only be a matter of time before Jenson gets on that podium.
Finished 4th
Qualifying
Renault showed good promise in Australia and the team came to Malaysia feeling quite confident and introducing a number of aerodynamic improvements to the car. Button was on the pace quickly and he qualified in 8th place. He set his fastest time on his opening run, but a power loss problem with the race car caused him to use the spare for his final runs. It was unfortunate that Heidfeld was just faster than Jenson as he hoped to have been 'best of the rest' outside McLaren, Ferrari, and Williams.
Race
Jenson Button was looking forward to making a good start with the excellent launch control system Renault seem to have developed. He did make a good start but wasn't able to make any places up. Fortunately this time though he wasn't involved in any first bend collisions and he was able to make a challenge on the race from 7th. A one stop strategy proved to be successful with the Renault being able to keep on the pace in high fuel trim and Jenson was able to make the most of retirements ahead of him to move up the field. Indeed with both McLaren's going out, Jenson found himself in 3rd place and looking good for a podium. He was passed by Montoya towards the end of the race which dropped him to 4th but was quickly back in podium position when Barrichello retired. It was looking a dead cert for his first ever podium, until 2 laps from the end when disaster struck. Jenson's suspension developed a problem and he was dropping 10 seconds a lap. It wasn't enough to prevent Michael Schumacher from passing him to take the podium. Nevertheless a 4th place points scoring position was a terrific result for the team and for Jenson. Welcome back Jenson!
Finished 4th
Qualifying
Qualifying was difficult for all the F1 teams with the session being affected by red flags and heavy rain. Jenson was not able to put together a fast lap when the track was at its best and the best he could do was 11th. Not a bad position but could have been better.
Race
Jenson's race was very short lived due to a massive accident at the start of the race. The accident was caused by Ralf Schumacher running into the back of Rubens Barrichello. In the ensuing mayhem many cars collided. Jenson initially avoided most of it but was hit by Nick Heidfeld's Sauber smashing the side of his car and putting him out.
Retired
Page
Design & Coding Mark Durham
© 2003