BAR reaction sums up new attitude
The reserved reaction in the BAR garage to Jenson Button’s sixth place finish in the Australian Grand Prix today was testament to the ambitions of a team pushing hard to break into Formula One’s top three.
Button’s three points and a ninth place for Takuma Sato were seen as a “solid” start to the new season by team principal David Richards who insisted it represented nothing more than a platform for future successes.
They have McLaren, Williams and Renault in their sights and Richards predicted a competitive season ahead for Button.
“As the Japanese reporters said to me: ‘This is a different team this year. A year ago you would all be patting yourselves on the back and cheerful and happy having got three points in the first race of the year’,” said Richards.
“Over the winter we felt we were on a similar pace to Williams. I think today indicates that is the case.
“It is a great result from Jenson’s point of view. Jenson has come on leaps and bounds and I think you are going to see Jenson highly competitive for the whole season now.
“It is a good combination, the two of them, and I think you will see Taku come on during the season.
"It is a very solid base, very solid indeed.”
Button had a first podium finish in his sights only for a fuel glitch to cost him one place and then Juan Pablo Montoya’s aggressive overtaking another.
That remains BAR’s most immediate goal and Button is confident that with a week of testing and more suitable conditions in Kuala Lumpur, it may well come at the Malaysian Grand Prix in a fortnight.
“I am reasonably happy. It is a big change from last season. Now we are a little bit unhappy with being slower than the Williams, whereas last year we were way off,” said Button.
“To get three points in the first race is great. There were only two races during the season that I got more than three points last year.
“If we can do that consistently during the season we are looking pretty strong but we expect more over the next few races.”
