Button: “Battling against Alonso was very similar to doing so against Schumacher: tough but fair”
In a new entry in ‘Jenson’s Diary’, written by button and published today on the website of Aston Martin F1the current team ambassador British has spoken about the experiences he had driving against his current teammate, Fernando Alonso.
“The biggest compliment I can give Fernando is that fighting him was very similar to fighting Michael Schumacher“said the 2009 world champion.”Against them it was hard but fair; He was always on the limit and I loved that. “It was part of the challenge.”
Three years before winning his World Cup with the help of Brawn GPhe English won his first race in a lively test in the Hungaroring. Button won and shared the podium with Pedro Martínez de la Rosa (McLaren) and Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber).
During the race, however, the then pilot of Sling He battled against the aforementioned Alonso and Schumacher. “When I won my first Grand Prix in Hungarywas competing against them. That’s what you look for as a pilot,” he emphasizes. “You want to compete against the best, against the greatsto see how you compare to them.”
Jenson, likewise, positively remembers the experience of facing other world champions. “In my career I had the opportunity to compete against drivers of the caliber of Fernando and Michael, as well as against Mika HäkkinenKimi Raikkonen,Lewis hamilton and max Verstappen. “I have been very fortunate to face some of the true legends of this sport.”
Alonso’s driving style
“What distinguishes Fernando is his driving style,” says the former driver born in Frome. “If all the cars were the same color and all the drivers went out on the track, it would be difficult to tell the difference. But when Fernando passes by, he is instantly recognized. That is due to the way he drives behind the wheel. He drives like no one else. “He is aggressive, he adapts brilliantly and has been like that throughout his entire career.”
Apart from their stay as teammates at McLaren for two years, Alonso and Button were regular and reserve drivers in two other seasons. In 2017 it was the British who sat on the bench Woking. However, in 2002 they also coincided, but Jenson was the starting driver while the Spaniard was a reserve.
Fernando adapts to anything. It’s a special talent
F1 world champion
“I remember in the early 2000s, when we were both working at renaultthe car required very aggressive steering; Otherwise, the front axle would be overloaded and oversteer would occur,” says Button. “He found a way to drive it. It wasn’t an elegant move, but he did it.”
“He’s always been able to do it with any car he drives; It’s really impressive. I couldn’t do that. If you give me a car configured to my liking, I don’t think anyone could drive it faster. But Fernando adapts to anything. It’s a special talent“.
His fight at Monza in 2010
Taking advantage of the approaching Italian Grand Prix This year, Button recalled one of the most iconic battles between both world champions. That same scenario, monzawitnessed it in 2010.
“In 2010 is perhaps the closest time I came to winning there (in Monza), but Fernando surpassed me,” recalls the Briton. “I started behind him, but I overtook him at the start and led the first stint. Fernando was fasterbut he couldn’t overtake me because I had an advantage in downforce in the corners.
“If you look at the photos of the cars from that day, you will see that I had a very large rear wing. Normally a low drag configuration is used at Monza because it’s a high-speed circuit, but we had the special F-duct system, where you put your arm over a hole inside the cockpit, changing the airflow to stop the rear wing and increase straight-line speed.”
“This meant you could corner with downforce and reduce drag on the straights.a principle similar to that of active aerodynamics in today’s cars. So, every time I came out of a corner, I was going so fast that Fernando couldn’t overtake me.”
“If things had continued like this, I would have won the race, but we pitted on different laps, and Fernando’s stop was a little faster than mine. When he came out of the pits, I saw his red car in front of mine and I felt terrible; there was nothing i could do. The crowd exploded with joy and all I had to do was follow them to the finish line. “To beat Ferrari on their own turf would have been incredible, but it wasn’t to be.”
