Jensen Button’s ride of a lifetime to win Montreal Grand Prix
Last updated 6/15/2011 9:00:39 AM
Jensen Buttons ride of a lifetime to win Montreal Grand Prix
Jensen Button put himself in line for the Optimist of the Year award when he splashed through the puddles in Montreal to go from last to top of the podium in the race of his life.
I would be hard pushed to think of anyone in F1 who would have retained his desire for victory having been given a drive through penalty; suffered two crashes and five visits to the pits for changes of tyres.
But Button knifed through the field with a mixture of skill, aggression, bravado and absolute optimism to pick off TWENTY rivals including the runaway overall leader Sebastian Vettel on the final lap of the rain wrecked race, a fitting climax to a wondrous drive which the British driver may never better.
In the final heart stopping moments of a race which seemingly spent as much time behind the safety car as in free racing, Vettel's Red Bull ran wide under pressure to give the win to Button.
Red Bull's Mark Webber was third to deprive veteran Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher of a podium place and it was their tussle which allowed Button to fly past when fourth looked to be the best hope of the former World Champion.
Button, who moved up to second place in the drivers' championship after his win, described it as possibly the best of his career.
"I really don't know what to say, it's been a very emotional race," he said. "The incident with Lewis Hamilton - I couldn't see anything and I've apologised to him.
"It was really a fight from then on but I kept on pushing and I managed to get past Seb at the end. Another great win for me and possibly my best."
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said: "What a race. He is driving fantastically and we know he deserves it and hope everyone else does, too.
"He just attacked and attacked and delivered a fantastic race. We knew he had to put pressure on Sebastian - and Sebastian made a mistake. From Jenson, that's the stuff of champions, that's the stuff of dreams."
Vettel conceded ruefully: "If you have it in your hands and give it away it is not the sweetest feeling."
While Button celebrated, Hamilton left the track after an ignominious race that saw him drop from second to fourth in the championship, finally crashing out after a collision with his team mate.
Button was last when the race was restarted on lap 40 but he fought his way through the field thanks to choosing the right time to change to intermediate tyres and then again to the dry-weather slick tyres.
By the time a collision between Nick Heidfeld's Renault and Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber brought out the safety car again with 12 laps to go, Button had climbed to fourth place behind Vettel, Schumacher and Webber.
The race restarted two laps later and Vettel immediately built a lead while the three men behind him battled for position.
Webber, who had brought himself back into contention by becoming the first leading driver to stop for slick tyres, slipped back to fourth when he misjudged the final chicane on lap 64.
Button passed Schumacher on the next lap and set about closing the three-second lead to Vettel with five laps remaining.
They entered the last lap less than a second apart and Vettel made his first serious mistake in a race this season, putting a wheel off line on to the wet part of the track at Turn Six and half-spinning, handing the lead to Button.
Vettel said: "Of course I'm disappointed. It was a very difficult race from start to finish. We led every single lap apart from the last one."
But that's the one that counts the most!!