Abu Dhabi - With Sebastian Vettel already crowned Formula One world champion, Jenson Button is looking to strengthen his grip on second place at this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Button leads a group of four drivers fighting for the runner-up spot with two races remaining. The McLaren driver holds a 13-point lead over Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. Red Bull’s Mark Webber is 19 points back and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton 38 points adrift.
While Button would rather be challenging for the championship, he said finishing ahead of several other former champions would still be “good end to a positive” season.
“When you have won a world championship, nothing else will do except for winning,” said Button, who won the 2009 title. “But also to finish in front of Red Bull and Fernando in a Ferrari ... and also Lewis, it would be something you would fight for, definitely, rather than settling and not really giving it your all.”
The 31-year-old Briton has won three races this year, compared to two for Hamilton and one for Alonso — the only drivers other than Vettel to finish first this season.
He has also been more consistent than his teammate Hamilton. Button said much of his success came down to improving the reliability of his car.
Alonso, a two-time champion, is also gunning for second but said he mainly wanted to finish strong for the sake of his team, not himself. Last year, Alonso came into Abu Dhabi as the points leader and with a chance to clinch the title but lost the championship to Vettel after he finished seventh.
“It’s better second than fourth or fifth. But we are competitive people. We like to win, and when we cannot arrive first it’s not the same,” Alonso said.
Despite being in the hunt for second, Alonso couldn’t hide his disappointment on Thursday about a season in which aerodynamics problems have let the Red Bull cars of Vettel and Webber gain a crucial edge. The team has won one race and endured a series of uncharacteristic management changes.
“It is not a disaster, but for sure when you race for Ferrari there are a lot of expectations,” Alonso said.
Hamilton was even harder on himself, brushing aside trying to finish second as almost pointless. He described his year as “a couple of so-so races, but the rest have been fairly disappointing.”
Associated Press
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com