MOTOR SPORT:JENSON BUTTON walked out on Monaco a year ago but he talks about the place tenderly, as if it represents an old affaire de coeur. "Monaco is a great place," he says, squinting into the sun in the jewel in Formula One's crown, the epitome of life at its most lavish.
“There were many positives about living here. The sun is shining most of the year. The summer’s fun, the winter’s very quiet and it’s a very clean and safe place to be. It’s good for training as well. But I never really felt at home. I wanted a house and a garden and never had that.”
Button now bases himself in Guernsey but tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix will be an evocative experience for him. It was here, in his championship season of 2009, that his victory ended in an explosion of pure joy as he parked in the wrong place and then sprinted down the pit straight.
“I love this race, absolutely love it. And it’s such a special race that, if you win, you have to enjoy it.”
There is something relaxed about Button as he prepares to fling his car around the tight streets of this principality. This may be the slowest grand prix, with an average speed of under 90mph, but it feels the fastest.
Monaco, as ever, will be wonderfully compelling and dangerous. Button, though, just smiles at the very thought of it. He may struggle to catch the Red Bulls, and even his McLaren team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, but there is an equilibrium about his mood which borders on serenity. Despite some ambivalent remarks about Ferrari he has said he would be happy to end his career at McLaren, where he presents a softer image to the more aggressive, edgy Hamilton.
The only fly in this ointment is Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel in particular. Vettel has started the season with such a swagger that he could soon have a second championship wrapped up. The German’s attitude has reminded some of Button, whose title also gave him a surge of self-belief – he won two of his first four races for McLaren last season after winning the championship with Brawn.
“Seb’s in a slightly different situation because he’s in a very strong car again. But he has grown in confidence, which is a pity for all of us. He is becoming more of a complete driver. It’s great to race someone who is very competitive and has a good head on him. He’s an intelligent guy. So he will grow as a person. He’s only 23.”
Monaco, though, represents the great equaliser for Button. “Quick cars will still be quick and quick drivers will still be quick. But one small mistake here and you’re in the wall or you lose a massive amount of time.
“The Monaco Grand Prix is a very different situation. There’s a lot of pressure on all of us. Mentally it’s so, so draining, driving around this place for 78 laps. It’s more tough mentally than physically.
“And there won’t be much overtaking. The best place is out of the tunnel, down the hill into the chicane. But it’s very unlikely. But we shouldn’t worry about that. Because it’s such a special race.”
Today, though, it is qualifying, where Button has been beaten by his team-mate 15 times in the past 19 races. So is Hamilton quicker? The smile is gone. The eyes look harder. “No,” he says assertively.
