The world champion was also a bit off with comments about Button’s team-mate
Lewis Hamilton, labelling the McLaren driver “stupid” and lacking in “common
sense” for having the audacity to race him despite being a lap behind.
It drew withering retort from Hamilton, who said that the German had “showed
his maturity” with his outburst.
Hamilton was not in the best of moods all round. An early puncture, caused by
debris on the track, had relegated him to the back of the field after three
laps, his frustration compounded by the fact that after a couple of lean
races, McLaren
had once again given him a car capable of challenging for victory.
It was a bittersweet weekend for McLaren in general. Their new upgrade package
was an unqualified success, and Button’s eventual second place saw him put a
dreadful run stretching all the way back to China in April behind him.
But Hamilton’s pointless afternoon, which eventually saw him retire from the
race with gearbox damage 10 laps from the end, badly dented both his and his
team’s title hopes. Hamilton finds himself 62 points behind Alonso in the
drivers’ standings this morning, with Button a further 24 points back.
The Woking team desperately need to get back to winning ways in Hungary this
weekend, the last race before the summer break.
At least they now look to have a car capable of doing so. They just need some
luck to go with it.
A clean start beneath brilliant sunshine, the first time that had been seen
all weekend, saw little change to the running order. Alonso made a lightning
start from pole and didn’t look back. Twice he looked as if he might be in
danger.
First Vettel closed to within DRS range only for the Spaniard to respond with
a series of quick laps. Then Button, who had risen from sixth on the grid
and passed Vettel by undercutting him at the second round of pit stops, was
able to close to within a second. Again Alonso responded, as if toying with
his rivals.
“Fernando knows exactly, as we all do, how to use KERS to keep someone behind
you,” Button acknowledged. “I’m a little but disappointed with that but all
in all a fun race. It’s nice to be back on the podium and to get some good
points.”
His haul was made even healthier once Vettel was penalised for his penultimate
lap move. The German tried to argue that he was forced wide and gained
nothing from accelerating on the run-off area but the stewards disagreed
with his interpretation, leaving Button feeling vindicated.
“You could see that he overtook me off the circuit and he got such a good exit
because he knew he could drive off the circuit,” he smiled.
His team-mate was less happy. Hamilton’s 100th grand prix was over almost
before it started. “I could have won that race,” he said forlornly. “There
is jut one positive from this weekend and that is that the upgrades work.”
Now he must bounce back this weekend although one suspects the imperious
Alonso might have something to say about that.
Thirty years old. 30 grand prix victories. What price a 31st on the Spaniard’s
31st birthday on Sunday?
Results:
1. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari) 1hr 31min 05.862sec (average: 201.844 km/h),
2. Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren Mercedes) at 6.949sec, 3. Kimi Raikkonen
(FIN/Lotus) 16.409, 4. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber) 21.925, 5. Sebastian
Vettel (GER/Red Bull Racing) 23.732, 3. 6. Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber) 27.896,
7. Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes AMG) 28.970, 8. Mark Webber (AUS/Red
Bull Racing) 46.941, 9. Nico Huelkenberg (GER/Force India) 48.162, 10. Nico
Rosberg (GER/Mercedes) 48.889, 11. Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India) 59.227,
12. Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) 1:11.428, 13. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro
Rosso) 1:16.829, 14. Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso) 1:16.965, 15. Pastor
Maldonado (VEN/Williams) at 1 lap, 16. Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Caterham) 1, 17.
Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams) 1, 18. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus) 1, 19. Heikki
Kovalainen (FIN/Caterham) 2 laps, 20. Charles Pic (FRA/Marussia) 2, 21.
Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/HRT) 3, 22. Timo Glock (GER/Marussia) 3, 23. Narain
Karthikeyan (IND/HRT) 3
Retired: Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren Mercedes): mechanical problem 57th
lap