By Phil Huff (12/09/2004)
September 12 2004

A return to the podium saw Jenson Button make another appearance in the post race press conference. Here's what the Lucky Strike BAR Honda driver had to say. Jenson, a great drive for you, particularly in those early slippery stages.

Yeah, it was a very interesting race. I didn't think the Ferraris were going to be so strong towards the end of the race but the pace of these two guys was just untouchable. But all in all it's a fantastic race for us as a team. We have taken second place in the championship now in the Constructors, two points in front of Renault, I think. So it's fantastic. I have to dedicate this podium to them and also my granddad, who is watching from his hospital bed at the moment.

On that last set of tyres, was the car any different to how it had been in the earlier stage of the race?

Obviously the first set of tyres we were in damp conditions and it's very difficult to feel how the second set of tyres are going to be when the circuit's completely dry. The balance wasn't too bad. The car seems to run much better on low fuel towards the end of the stints, that's when the car gets stronger and that's when I was able to pull out a gap on Alonso and Montoya. So I knew that was to come, so I was pretty positive that we were pretty strong for a podium position at least. I actually thought we had the chance of a win there but, as I said, I didn't know these two guys would be so strong.

For you I think the race was just a little bit too long.

Yeah, it was. I think we did a fantastic performance, especially at the first stage of the race, to get up to third position before the first pit stop wasn't too bad considering where I was going into the first corner but these two guys were just too quick today. The performance in the dry is just staggering. I mean, we were nowhere near and to still have them in my sights at the end – obviously it's a very long straight here – but that was pretty special for us because we didn’t expect that.

Were you slightly on wet settings?

No.

How did you see the incident with Michael?

When I turned into turn two I actually thought I was going the wrong way because everyone was going straight on at the time! But I was able to get the car into the corner, I was on the outside which normally is a bit more grippy in turn-in because you don’t use that line in the dry, so I had quite a lot of grip but I knew Michael was a little bit out of control on the inside but I had to try and make the corner and I did and Michael came off worse.

The middle stint with Fernando behind you and Juan Pablo as well. That must have been thrilling - it was from our point of view!

It's thrilling when you are catching up to other people but when they are catching you it's not so much fun. But I knew that towards the end of the stint, when we were on lower fuel, the car works very well so I was just biding my time really and looking after the tyres and the last three or four laps before the pit stop I pushed a bit harder and was able to get a bit of a gap.

What did you think when you saw Barrichello exit the pits in front of you and in the same time Michael was overtaking you and were you surprised by the Ferraris today?

First of all I was a bit confused because the team was on the radio shouting about Rubens, 'ah, he's going to come out in front' and I wasn't sure if Michael was Rubens and he had pitted a lap earlier than expected so I was a little bit confused. When I saw Michael come alongside me I was thinking 'ah, that means there's two in front' and that's when Rubens came out of the pits and I was in third position. I was not really surprised about their pace, we expected the Ferraris to be quick here and they have done a fantastic job. Nobody can take that away from them.

After a fantastic drive like that and BAR clearly showing they are clearly the second best team on the grid, do you not have any second thoughts about the decision you have made for next season?

Erm, no.

That’s better than a no comment I suppose!

(Laughter) I answered it!

What are your expectations of Shanghai?

I think I am one of the few drivers who have visited the circuit and I think it's going to be very exciting for everyone involved to arrive in Shanghai and see the facilities that are there because it is staggering. And also I think we are going to have a pretty good race there because it seems like a circuit that is going to be good for overtaking and I am looking forward to going there in two weeks.