Vettel hopes as Button is caught out cold at home

SILVERSTONE - The British home Grand Prix was the worst place of all for Jenson Button’s first disappointment of the Formula One season, which some may see as a turning of the tides.

After winning six season races and coming third in the other, the Brawn GP driver Button found himself in unfamiliar sixth place in Silverstone where Red Bull ruled with a one-two finish from Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber.

While Vettel did not want to go as far as talk about a turnaround after his second season win, the other Brawn driver Rubens Barrichello did exactly that when he placed ahead of Button for the first time this year in third place.

“Jenson has been quite strong in every race this year. Let’s say he birdied the first holes, I hope he bogeys the next ones and I can birdy. It’s pretty much like that. I hope that this is a turnaround here,” said the Brazilian Barrichello.

Button still rules the sport with 64 points, with Barrichello on 41, Vettel on 39 and Webber on 35.5 points.

Vettel, whose third career win, from the pole position, was the first in dry conditions, said all he could do was to push as hard as Sunday in the remaining nine races.

“I think we have made a step forward. The car was brilliant here and this circuit suits us. On top of that I think the conditions were right for us,” the 21-year-old German said.

“You can’t really foresee what’s going to happen but I can assure you we will try very, very hard to improve, even from where we are now and try to collect more points than all our competitors.”

Button, for his part, was happy that he managed to salvage three points after being stuck in eighth place early on. Any better result, he said, was denied by the cool British weather with which the Red Bulls had coped much better all weekend.

“Those points could be important after what we saw today,” Button said.

“(Red Bull) were much quicker than us because it was absolutely freezing this weekend. The sun didn’t come out until after the race - thanks British weather.”

The Times daily warned Monday: “The result leaves Button still in a commanding position at the head of the table, but it suggests that Brawn will have to keep a close eye on the Red Bull drivers.”

In Germany, the Bild daily rejoiced about Vettel’s coup and said that “Button must be on his guard now.”

While 90 points are still up for grabs from victories alone in the remaining nine races, Button believes that the momentum can swing back in his favour.

However, the next event in three weeks is Vettel’s German home Grand Prix at the Nrburgring which could also be a chilly affair as far as the temperatures are concerned. But another two weeks later in Hungary the Brawns could find the heat again that they like

Team principle Ross Brawn also remained upbeat when he told the BBC: “This is not a complete disaster for the championship. You can have days when you struggle but come back. It could have been a lot worse.”