Button was referring to the raised index finger from the 24-year-old double
world champion which dominated last season as Vettel scored 15 poles and 11
race wins.
Asked if he thought Vettel would get sick of the sight of his ‘W’ as he did
with the finger, Button said: “Hopefully he will.”
McLaren and Button certainly appear to have a solid platform on which to build
a robust title challenge this year, and although it is only the first race,
the Woking-based team are renowned for their rate of development over the
course of the year.
“Starting the year strong for this team is really important,” said Button.
“Heading into the first race the last two years has been tricky, so to come
away with Lewis’ pole and the victory puts us in a great position for the
next few races and on the right foot.”
In contrast, Hamilton could find little consolation with his third place,
missing out on a one-two to Vettel who was aided by a safety car on lap 37
when Vitaly Petrov ground to a halt on the start-finish straight.
“It was a bit of a tough day, but we have plenty of races ahead and lots more
opportunities to score points,” said Hamilton.
“Although it was quite a tough race, it is still quite positive for the team
to come here with good pace, so hopefully we can take that on to the next
race.
“We showed we have a very quick racing car, so I’ll just re-focus now, get my
head down and look to the next race.
“The world championships are all about consistency, and that’s what I’ll be
aiming for.”
Mark Webber was fourth for Red Bull, his best result on home soil, with
Fernando Alonso fifth after a dismal qualifying.
Williams’ Pastor Maldonado should have finished sixth, only to spin into a
wall on the last lap, handing the place to Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi.
Kimi Raikkonen was seventh on his Lotus debut and return to F1 after two years
away in rallying, followed by Sauber’s Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo for
Toro Rosso and Force India’s Paul di Resta.