By Phil Huff
June 11 2005

Jenson Button had to take his first qualifying press conference of the year earlier today, and was delighted to be able to answer questions about his stunning pole lap. Here's what he had to say... What a comeback! We all know what you and the team have been going through over the last month or so, but on the pole here in Canada.

A little bit surprised, actually. We expected to come here and be reasonably quick but to challenge the Renaults and McLarens? We didn't quite expect that but it's good to be here. This is a huge boost for the team. We've had a tough few months and they've worked exceptionally hard, so it's great to give them something back.

Your thoughts for the race tomorrow; it's obviously very hot, we have a new track surface here, what were the conditions like out there?

It was a little bit slipperier than in practice. I think maybe the wind has picked up a little bit, but the car worked really well. It was reasonable easy to drive and I think we've got a good race package. I'm not going to say too much because I've seen the Renaults and the McLarens in practice and their long run pace looks very good. We will just wait and see what happens tomorrow, but this is a good start anyway.

Obviously this qualifying session does reflect the choice of fuel for the first stint in the race, but your top speed, 318 kph, is about 12 kph down on the guys either side of you. Your thoughts on that?

Oh dear. (Laughs) Yeah, we noticed that in the earlier practices, but for us this is the best level to be at and we've just got to hope that we can keep them behind us in the first few laps of the race when it's very close. It's going to be an important part of the race for us and if we can stay in front that's going to help our race no end.

What does it feel like to have this pole then?

Er, wow! I was a little bit surprised to be that quick. So yeah, I am very happy. I know that in the race the Renaults and the McLarens and probably the Ferraris are going to be very fast, looking at their practice times today, but this is a good start for us, and it is nice to be back in this position.

And how was the lap?

It was OK. The circuit was quite low grip so it was reasonably difficult, but it was a nice lap to drive, I enjoyed it.

The scenes in the garage looked like you’d just won the race, but obviously there was a certain amount of relief there.

Yeah, this is only qualifying, I know that and we know that as a team but we have had a tough few months, we've had a tough year so far so this means a lot to us to be closer to the front again. So yeah, this is a very special moment for everyone in the team and hopefully this is going to help the rest of the year for us.

What's made the difference, because if we look back two weeks, on your return, there wasn't really a sparkling performance.

Well, before Nurburgring we were testing in Paul Ricard and it's not a great aero circuit and we tested some new aero parts which we thought were better, we didn't go any quicker but we thought they were better so we ran with them at the Nurburgring. At Silverstone last week, we put them back on the car and did a comparison and realised that they were making the car very twitchy under braking. So that's one of the reasons, plus we have another aero package on the car here for this weekend, which is very positive. And Honda have done a great job with the engine, we have a new spec engine here which is definitely helping.

Brakewise?

Brakes should be fine, we have had no issues in practice. We know this is a very tough circuit on brakes, it's been known as the worst so… I think we'll be fine.

Do you feel your team has been a little persecuted this year over the situation with the fuel tank and do you feel there is still time to make an impact on the championship this year?

The first one is difficult to answer, but I can only say it has been a difficult season for us, probably the toughest for the team for many reasons. The second question, we don't have a chance in the championship, of winning the championship, anyway. Our aim is to go out and hopefully fight for wins. Hopefully we are ready for it, but I wasn't expecting to come here fighting for wins at all. But maybe we are better than I actually thought originally.

You have eight races in 11 week ends. That must require a different mental and maybe physical approach than having a race, time to go testing and then maybe a few days off then a race two weeks later. So, how is that different compared to the normal schedule?

I don't find it too bad. It is actually nice for us as a team to get out there racing as much as we can. The good thing is we have got two races this side of the pond, which is good, one week after the other, so we are not travelling backwards and forwards to races. Then we go back to Europe and we are racing in France and England, which again are very close to each other, so it is not an issue. As long as we get enough of a break in August and we can go on holiday and enjoy ourselves a bit it's fine.

People will look at the result today and say the only reason you are fast is because you don't have much gas (fuel) in the tank. What would you say to people who think you were just running light today and do not think you have the fastest car?

We have to wait and see tomorrow. We base our strategy not just on qualifying but on the race and we think we have the best possible strategy for us this weekend. That's all I can say.