All the signs point towards Jenson joy

13 April 2012

Jenson Button is on a string of points-scoring finishes for his Renault team and he is confident that another place in the top six is on the cards at Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

Button is currently the leading British driver, with David Coulthard's McLaren team continuing to flounder and Button believes that good performances at the Catalan track during testing point towards a promising result in the race.

"The circuit has a good layout, it is an enjoyable track and this year it is going to be good," said a confident Button. "Testing there has gone well this year and the car will be competitive, although I don't know where the Saubers or McLarens will be."

Button will reap the benefit of an aerodynamically efficient car, which will be a great help for him on the long start-finish straight.

"The long main straight means the car gets up to a maximum speed of about 310kph," said Button. "The car is good aerodynamically so that will help on this part of the track. You then have to brake very hard at the end of it going into the first corner but it is not until the third corner, which is a really long hard corner, where you can really gain a lot of time.

"There is a lot of G-force on that corner as well and that is really tough on the neck, but the physical training we do at Renault will help me cope with that."

The track is a combination of long high-speed and slow second-gear corners, and there are several places on the circuit where the drivers must decelerate heavily and where there could be the chance to overtake.

"On the back straight I reach 300kph again and this is another place where there is some heavy braking," explained Button. "But the last two corners are probably the most challenging and they are really good fun."

Button enjoyed a sensational race at the last event, the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola, where he described his performance as "the best in his life" after comfortably out-pacing Coulthard's McLaren.

But despite an impressive debut year with Williams, the podium still eludes him and he is yet to join in the post-race champagne celebrations. But he believes that will come if he just keeps trying.

"The car is getting better and better, and it is just a question of time," he said. "We are competitive and have been since the start of the season.

"It is a bummer that I haven't got on the podium yet, but it will come. It would be a good time of the season to do it, so let's wait and see.

"I don't care about being the top Briton or anything like that. I just look at every race and try to do that little bit better. I am getting on well in the team and I hope I can keep the string of good results going."

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