Button blown off course

Jenson Button blamed the Sao Paulo wind for robbing him of a top-three spot in qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

The BAR-Honda driver ended up fourth fastest as Renault’s Fernando Alonso took pole position for a race which is expected to see the 24-year-old crowned the youngest world champion in Formula One history.

But Button believes he should be starting further up the grid, claiming a strong head wind robbed him of a quarter of a second.

The 25-year-old was the slowest driver of all through the finish-line speed trap, a massive 10mph slower than Giancarlo Fisichella’s Renault.

With just 0.138 seconds separating him from third-placed Fisichella, Button believes that gust of wind was crucial.

He said: “I lost a minimum of 0.250secs. I don’t know what happened, it is unusual to get a head wind that big.

“I exited the last corner better than I did in practice but I was 0.250secs down and it just got worse and worse. I’m a bit disappointed but then again you can’t do much about it.

“We were surprised. We looked at the data and thought we must have a problem to lose that much. When you see the speeds it is just outrageous.

“I think we have been very, very unlucky – somebody didn’t want us to be third on the grid.”

Button expects an action-packed start to tomorrow’s race, with the left-right chicane at turn one witnessing several accidents in years past.

Button hopes he is close enough to the front of the grid to stay clear of any accidents and set about scoring points for the eighth consecutive race.

He added: “It’s an interesting one, it’s always very dusty. We come off the start line into turn one and it’s normally two or three abreast. It’s pretty exciting.

“You can go through the first corner side by side so it’s going to be exciting. Hopefully we are far enough forward to keep out of trouble.

“Our main aim is to finish and finish in front of everyone else except McLaren and Renault, maybe we can possibly challenge. The first corner is going to be quite interesting.”

Scot David Coulthard will be in the thick of it come the first corner after a disappointing qualifying lap.

The Red Bull driver has enjoyed several stunning starts this season and will need another if he is to have realistic hope of scoring points from 15th on the grid.

Coulthard, whose team-mate Christian Klien qualified a stunning sixth, said: “We have been struggling a bit this weekend. I was suffering with understeer on my qualifying lap which meant I lost some time on the tight turns.

“But I think we have got a reasonable fuel load ahead of tomorrow’s race and we have done the best we can with the tools on offer. Now it is just a question of seeing what the race brings.”