Button calls for F1 changes
The reigning world champion has admitted to being "annoyed" at the end of the race after spending the final third of it stuck behind Michael Schumacher, with no opportunity to make a move. It means the pressure is on for F1 to improve over the next three grands prix, starting in Australia next Sunday, otherwise the 30-year-old believes changes will then have to be made.
"I don't know how we're going to make the racing more exciting than it is," admitted Button. "I hope it's just because of the new layout in Bahrain, and it was the first one, that it wasn't so exciting.
"I hope when we are racing in Melbourne we are going to have a bit more action out there and a few more ideas on pitstops. The thing is now it seems the eight or 10 cars at the front, they pull away from the pack and wait until they've got a gap to fall into. "We've all got the same information, so as soon as we all find a gap, one car pits from one of those teams, and the next lap the other car pits. "It's annoying because it's a sport I love and it's tough to see a procession. It's only one race in, so it's not the end of the world. There's still another 18 races to go.
"There's still every chance it's going to be a fantastic season. We just have to see what happens over the next few races. But if it's not going in the right direction, then people have to start making the decisions. I hope it gets better, for all of our sakes."
"There's still every chance it's going to be a fantastic season. We just have to see what happens over the next few races. But if it's not going in the right direction, then people have to start making the decisions. I hope it gets better, for all of our sakes."
It says something about the state of F1 that Lewis Hamilton has mentioned even his mum Linda thought the race at Sakhir was boring.
"I had dinner with my mum the other night and she said it was kind of boring," the 2008 champion said. "I haven't seen the race but I've heard from a lot of people that it wasn't positive. They were so excited by the hype of Michael [Schumacher] coming back and all that and it was just kind of very dull, there was no overtaking."
It made a mockery of all the pre-season hype this would be the most exciting season in F1 history with four champions on track and with the new teams in action. Given the nature of the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Button's McLaren team-mate Hamilton is hoping the track will lend itself to a greater degree of action. "You've got to assume the next race will be more exciting. There will be more people and there should be more of an atmosphere in Australia, as there always is.
"The track should be more favourable to the cars. It is a street circuit so it's not the easiest place to overtake, but I think it should be more exciting." Button concedes the pressure is now on the sport and the drivers to serve up some action in Australia, and the races that follow in Malaysia and China. "We all put a lot of pressure on ourselves to perform in Bahrain as everyone was saying it's going to be the best year ever in Formula One, but it wasn't an exciting race to watch," added Button.
"It's still fantastic you have eight cars at the front that are competitive and I think we'll see them fighting it out at races to come in qualifying, and also we will see different winners. But wheel-to-wheel action, we hope that's going to come. There's a lot of pressure on everyone to have a good show now." Guardian Newspaper