Turkish delight for Button

A “MONSTER” of a car has teed up Jenson Button for potentially the mother of all victories.

At the end of his sixth win from seven races, and his fourth in a row to equal a feat last achieved by a Briton in 1992 when Nigel Mansell was crowned champion, Button was a little emotional.

There were tears in the eyes of the 29-year-old as he spoke after a Turkish Grand Prix triumph that has helped him establish a 26-point lead in the title race over Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello.

Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel finished around seven seconds behind in second and third, but in effect they were light years away from Button.

It was a stunning drive from Button, aided by a mistake off the line from Barrichello and one on the opening lap from polesitter Vettel that handed him the win. What better way to head into his home grand prix at Silverstone in a fortnight aiming to make it seven wins from eight, and only one man has achieved that before – Michael Schumacher in 2004.

“This is the first race where the car has been absolutely perfect for me,” beamed Button.

After crossing the line, Button was told over the pit-to-car radio he had produced an “awesome drive.”

Screaming with joy, he replied: “Thank you. You’ve built me a monster of a car. You guys are absolute legends.”

Button will take some stopping on this form, and it is surely only a matter of when, not if, he becomes champion.

The only saving grace for Button’s rivals is that a Brawn car suffered a mechanical failure for the first time this year, with Barrichello retiring on lap 49 with a gearbox problem.

Behind the Red Bull duo Toyota’s Jarno Trulli was fourth, followed by Nico Rosberg in his Williams, with fifth his best performance of the year.

Felipe Massa, winner here from pole for the last three years, was sixth in his Ferrari, with BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica finally ending his points duck by taking seventh.

The second Toyota of Timo Glock completed the top eight, with Lewis Hamilton 13th in his pitiful McLaren, finishing 80.4 seconds adrift of Button.