Jenson Button took centre stage yesterday in one of the more bizarre incidents in Formula One history. Well, actually, what he took was Sebastian Vettel’s parking spot when the two drivers came in to pit during the Chinese Grand Prix.
As world champion constructor Red Bull Racing has the first garage in pit lane. McLaren, Button’s team, has the next garage down. So, when Button and Vettel raced into pitlane mechanics, from both teams were out waiting for their drivers. Button charged straight into the Red Bull spot, paused a little, was frantically waved on by Red Bull’s lollipop man, and then moved ahead to his McLaren bay a few metres ahead. Vettel seemed unfazed and the Red Bull team reacted with precision by sending out their man ahead of Button.
So, did Button simply make a rookie error? Was it a devious ploy to distract his rival team? Or has Button (not so) secretly revealed his wish to drive for Red Bull Racing?
While you can, check out the clip after the break.
[Pic: twitpic via @keithdaltons]
9 replies on “Jenson Button reveals desire to drive for Red Bull”
I saw this on telly last night I think its a mistake under pressure, considering that Vettel was behind his ass for the last couple of 10 laps or so.
Does he incur a penalty for stopping at the wrong garage during the pit stop? Also, is there no more lollipop man for this year? or is it just a 1 time off thing?
Jenson was he going to get fries with his order “Drive thru”
Would have been massive lulz if they put the new wheels on Jenson’s car and then had nothing ready for Vettel.
Alan, the lolipop man is considered to be too slow in this day and age of F1. A couple of the top teams this year are using a red/green light system instead of a human. Of course, this isn’t without error, we saw a Ferrari last year take off, when the light changed to green prematurely and ran over one of his mechanics.
Interesting incident. What would have happened if Jensen just sat there and delayed Vettel? Would there have been a penalty of some sort?
Both teams in that clip used a lollipop man. It’s just a bit hard to see them in all the chaos.
What would the penalty be if he just stayed there?
Penalty? Red Bull mechanics push him out of the way and don’t let him go until they feel like it. No need for the stewards to get involved!
Jenson explains his pitlan stuff up in this article:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/04/17/uk-motor-racing-prix-button-idUKTRE73G18120110417