Button wants fair share of good luck

13 April 2012

Jenson Button believes this weekend's European Grand Prix offers his best chance this year to claim an elusive podium place because, according to the driver, the newlymodified Nurburgring should suit his Renault car down to the ground.

The Nurburgring, nestling in the Eifel mountains in Germany, was built on the same site as the classic Nordschleife track, but it is not a patch on the old circuit.

Yet Button knows it will still provide a tough challenge.

"The first part of the track is significantly different this year and the approach to the first corner is still close to top speed," said Button.

"But, instead of meeting a thirdgear chicane, it is now a tight hairpin which I anticipate taking at around 80kmh. That should make things exciting. In general, I think the Nurburgring will suit my car a lot better than the last few tracks.

"We should be close to the McLarens and close to the Saubers.

"And the podium will happen, maybe this time. You just have to push as hard as you can and wait for it to come.

"It doesn't frustrate me because you can't get like that but, I mean, it's got to come!"

Button believes that the new track developments, which have seen changes to the first three corners, will create more excitement as there will now be more opportunities to overtake.

"I'm looking forward to getting out on to the circuit," he said. "I'm also looking forward to seeing what the changes are like. After the first corner, there is a long left-hander which looks quicker than the first, probably around 95kmh, then there is the final part of the complex which takes you back on to the old track.

"It is generally difficult to overtake, as it is at a lot of the circuits, but I expect the new turn one will result in a bit more action than we have seen before. My favourite parts of the track, though, are turns eight and nine after the hairpin.

"There is a tricky left-hand corner after the hairpin, which is taken at around 240kmh with a bit of left-foot braking as you come off the throttle slightly. Then, after reaching 290kmh, there are two quite fast challenging corners, first a left one at 150kmh, and the next right at 170kmh. You need a good exit from this to get to top speed before the chicane."

After several disappointing races, including the last Grand Prix in Canada, where he never found the pace required to break into the top six, Button believes his luck is due to turn for the better.

If he and his team can master the new part of the Nurburgring, he could be spraying the champagne on Sunday.

"The results in the last couple of races have been down to circumstances and some bad luck," Button said.

"We aren't quite quick enough to be on the podium yet but there have been a couple of races in which we might have been there with a little bit of luck. This might be a good circuit for us."

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