Formula One News » Vettel too erratic to be champion, claims Button Posted on 31/08/2010
Jenson Button has said that the mistake that eliminated him from Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix was typical of rival Sebastian Vettel’s season, and suggested that the German was going to miss out on the world title as a result of his errors.
Speaking after he had had time to reflect on only his second non-score of the season, Button admitted that he had been too quick to write off his own chances of landing another world crown, but insisted that Vettel needed to clean up his act if he was to remain in contention – regardless of whether Red Bull Racing continued to give him parity with team-mate Mark Webber.
“For me, he has made too many mistakes this year to fight for the world championship – but he is extremely quick, we can’t take that away from him,” the world champion told Reuters, “To get seven poles is extraordinary in the amount of races we’ve had, but to throw that many away is also very surprising.”
Despite being the man to beat in qualifying – his seven poles compare favourably to Webber’s five and the single non-RBR pole of Button’s McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton – Vettel has now failed to score in three of the 13 races and has seen vital points slip away through a combination of poor reliability and silly mistakes, highlighted by the intra-team collision with Webber in Turkey and the clash with Button at Spa.
The German is now 31 points off the lead, 28 behind Webber and only four points ahead of Button, who has won a similar two races to Vettel, while Hamilton and Webber have three and four wins apiece. Fernando Alonso, who also failed to score in Belgium, won the other two rounds and remains fifth in the points.
While initially beginning to write off his chances in the wake of Sunday’s accident, Button admits that he still remains a viable contender for the world title, especially if he can utilise all of McLaren’s potential at Monza in two weeks’ time.
“When I got out of the car and walked into my driver’s room, I said that [the DNF] massively hurt my championship and coming back from this is very difficult,” he confirmed, “but I was very down at that point, as you would be after losing so many points.
“Looking at it now, it’s 35 points, which is still a lot but, in ‘old money’, it’s about 14 or 15, so it’s definitely still possible.
“I’m in a position now where I’ve just got to go out there and hope for a race victory, and work towards it. If I can come away with another race victory in Monza, then it’s a very different atmosphere and feeling for me. It’s a circuit I love and where I will do very well this year. I’m confident in the car and I think I’ll have a good weekend. I am positive, but I have taken a big knock.”
What may help his cause – and that of team-mate Hamilton – is Red Bull’s apparent devotion to making Vettel world champion, even if it means refusing to back Webber.
“I don’t think they will [focus on Webber],” he smiled, “I think they love Vettel, and I don’t think they will put all their eggs in one basket.”
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