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F1 British GP: British GP podium miss ‘really hurts’ – Button

Jenson Button says it pains him to not have a victory or podium result at the British Grand Prix during his Formula 1 career and admits it is a tall order to achieve the feat this year.

The McLaren driver has missed out on a top three finish at the British Grand Prix in every year of his 16 seasons in F1 with three agonising near-misses of fourth place finishes in 2004, 2010 and 2014.

Button feels it is the last greatest omission from his F1 career achievements and something he wants to fix this weekend but does accept it will be difficult to produce with McLaren's current performance deficit to its rivals.

The 36-year-old heads to Silverstone off the back of his best result of the year with sixth place in Spielberg having profited from mixed conditions in qualifying which saw him line up a promoted third on the grid.

"It really hurts but I can't do anything about that right now so you've just got to take it," Button said. "Would I rather a world championship than a British GP win? Of course, I have achieved my main goal in F1 already but there is one thing that is missing which is the British Grand Prix. Not just the win, even being on the podium.

"I've had a couple of races where I've been close. 2014 - one metre away from Daniel Ricciardo - and 2011 when I was running second or third and the wheel fell off coming out of the pits.

"It just hasn't worked out. The circuit has been kind to me with outright pace just the results haven't come."

Despite the agony Button says he will always hold fond memories of Silverstone both as a young spectator and as a driver. Button frequently made the pilgrimage to the Northamptonshire circuit with his late father John and watched from the banking at Priory.

After stepping up to F1 in 2000 Button says his maiden British Grand Prix that year or his near-miss in 2014 stand out as his favourite memories of the race.

"My best memory racing is probably my first race or in 2014 which was pretty awesome," he said. "My first race in 2000 I qualified sixth and overtook Michael Schumacher into turn one, Copse, and finished fifth mostly on nine cylinders and not ten which was pretty epic.

"DC [David Coulthard] won the race so the British fans went crazy and we had a party after where we all wore wigs and acted silly. We don't do that anymore, well we don't wear wigs anymore!

"2014 was obviously a difficult time for me privately and I had a lot of support from the fans which meant a lot."

With speculation growing around Button's future and that it could be his last British Grand Prix as a driver Button is keen to put on a show for his fans and also confirmed he isn't considering retirement just yet.

Zdroj: crash.net