Fry refuses to hit the panic button
Button has yet to sample victory in Formula One since arriving in 2000.
No driver in Formula One history has hit the century mark without registering a win and gone on to become world champion but Fry claims Button should feel no pressure to break his duck.
He said: “The monkey is on the team’s back to provide a good car. I don’t think there any monkeys on Jenson’s back.
“If you have got an excellent car and if you are a good driver, you can do a good job. Jenson is driving what clearly isn’t the best car to the best of his ability, which clearly is to a very high level.
“I really don’t buy that there’s any huge pressure on Jenson. It’s our job to give him the right equipment but I see no reason why Jenson can’t be world champion.”
For his part, Button concedes his 2005 season has not quite matched 2004, when he finished third in the drivers’ championship.
Button went into last season without a podium to his name but once the first arrived in Malaysia, a flood of nine more followed.
But this year, despite high hopes of a maiden win, BAR have struggled against poor early form, a two-race ban and a performance gap to McLaren and Renault.
Rating his displays this year, Button said: “Was I 100% happy with my performance last year? No, but I was pretty damned happy.
“Last year I reckon was 90%, this year I’ve made a couple of mistakes but the car’s been difficult to drive so I’d say about 80%.”
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