Button puts troubles into perspective

Jenson Button was yesterday forced to his put pre-season woes into context after witnessing the devastation in Japan.

It proved to be a deeply troubling final day of testing for Button at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya, both in and out of the car.

On one hand, Button spent a considerable amount of time looking on from the sidelines as McLaren grappled with yet more gremlins that resulted in the mechanics being forced to make an engine change.

On the other, he had to wait anxiously for news of model girlfriend Jessica Michibata, who was doing a photoshoot in Tokyo when Japan was struck by the worst earthquake in its history, sparking a massive tsunami.

Mercifully for Button, he eventually discovered Michibata was okay, but as for his hopes of a successful start to the latest campaign, they appear to be fading fast.

Button, who has won the last two races in Australia, said: “Last year in Melbourne nobody thought I’d win starting from fourth.

“The Red Bulls were half a second up the road or something, so you never really know, especially when the weather’s up and down.

“But we are not in the best position going there, and you’d say the Red Bulls and Ferraris are a good chunk in front of us. I don’t know about anyone else.

“We have to forget about where we stand at the moment compared to the others and just get our heads down and move this thing forward.

“This isn’t where McLaren should be, or where McLaren will be for long because there’s a great bunch of people here.

“We are all working as hard as we can to hopefully resolve some of the issues and turn up in Melbourne with an even stronger package.”

Button is due to arrive early next week when he will see Michibata, grateful she emerged unscathed after a terrifying day.

“I couldn’t speak to Jessie because the phone lines weren’t working in Japan,” said Button of his struggles to contact the 26-year-old Japanese-Argentinian.

“So halfway through the day, the only way I could get in touch with her really was through Twitter. I found out that she was okay.

“She’s fine, very shaken. She was in Tokyo doing a photoshoot in a studio underground so it was pretty horrific. I think the whole of Tokyo was pretty shaken.”

Expressing his sympathies to the Japanese people caught up in the tragedy, Button added: “It (the earthquake) is something they are used to, but still it’s the biggest they have ever had.

“It’s pretty horrendous, devastating and it’s bad for Tokyo, but really bad for Sendai. A tsunami there has wiped out most of it.

“So my heart and thoughts go out to all of the people affected.

“Motorsport is one thing, but something like that happening is so much bigger than the problems we have.”