Button looking for pace injection

Jenson Button is hopeful BAR’s race engineers can find some extra speed within the car over the next few days to help him compete with Ferrari this weekend.

Button was left disappointed with the car’s race pace during Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix, despite qualifying on the front row of the grid at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

The 24-year-old initially finished fourth behind winner Michael Schumacher, although was eventually promoted to third following the disqualification of BMW Williams driver Ralf Schumacher due to illegal air ducts on his car.

It means although Button picked up his sixth podium finish in eight races this season, he missed out on the customary end-of-grand-prix celebrations.

He will, however, be awarded his trophy at this weekend’s United States Grand Prix in Indianapolis, where he is hoping to come away with another piece of silverware for an official top-three finish.

“Obviously it’s great that I have been awarded third place in Canada, but it’s a shame to miss out on a podium appearance,” said Button.

“Third place and another trophy is great though, not to mention the extra point which takes us even closer to Renault [in the constructors’ championship].

“Despite the result, our performance in Canada wasn’t as good as we expected and we have to look at the reasons why we weren’t as quick as we should have been.

“We can’t test before Indy so we don’t have any changes to the car or engine. We will just have to see what we can achieve on the engineering side.”

Team principal David Richards, although relatively happy with the way the season has unfolded for BAR, knows more should have been achieved in Canada.

The performance of Button’s team-mate, Takuma Sato, was a major disappointment as the Japanese driver could only qualify 17th following a spin, and then retired during the race with another blown Honda engine.

Many believe Sato has been trying too hard to match Button, who has finished every race this season in the points, resulting in Richards needing a quiet word with the Japanese driver in an effort to curb his exuberance and bring out his natural talent.

“We arrived in Montreal expecting to leave with another trophy, albeit in slightly more clear-cut circumstances, although third place and the points were very welcome” said Richards.

“Looking ahead to the next race though, we cannot overlook the fact our performance in the Canadian Grand Prix fell short of expectation and another engine failure brought further disappointment for Takuma.

“But we are now just nine points away from second in the constructors’ championship and have extended our lead over Williams, so as we reach the mid-point of the season we should be very pleased with everything the team has achieved to date.”