Autosportfoto

F1 Bahrain GP: Button ‘all for change’ but qualifying fiasco a 'wrong move'

Jenson Button says he anticipates the sport will realise the mistake it has made in retaining elimination qualifying for a second event, even if he says believes change is good for F1.

A week after Button co-signed a strongly worded letter from the Grand Prix Drivers' Association condemning the decision-making processes in F1, the sport opted to retain the heavily panned elimination qualifying session that debuted to much criticism in Australia.

Indeed, though McLaren driver Button says he is all for change - something the GPDA alludes to in its letter -, he is hopeful that the flawed formula will not remain simply a unanimous agreement to amend it can't be reached.

"I'm all for change in the sport and it's exciting. It's not football or tennis, it's a very technical sport and it's nice to see change - I think it was a good one. But maybe we'll realise after this race it was the wrong move."

Though the GPDA letter has been assessed as a stand being made by the drivers against the F1 powers, the drivers sought to play it down slightly ahead of this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix, insisting it wanted to manoeuvre itself into a productive resource for the sport to consider when it does make decisions.

"The main thing about the GPDA stance is that we, as fans, and the fans all over the world are not entirely happy with what the sport is right now. I've been in this sport for 17 years, I've been through some really good times and some bad times and there's so much that can be taken from the past, when it was great. And there are so many things that are still great in the sport but we need to make a few changes.

"The fans understand that and we have the same opinion they have. We're very much, as racing drivers, fans too, we love this sport very much and if sometimes our views won't be the best because we come from the emotional side, sometimes you'll still need the drivers' opinions.

"I just think it helps to have our input because we're the ones driving the cars, we're the ones that know how they feel and we can help the sport. We're not out for a show of strength, we're just saying we want to help improve the sport."

Zdroj: crash.net