Jenson Button is fully aware of the championship situation and the tough task which lies ahead if he, or one of his fellow drivers, are to beat Sebastian Vettel.
The Red Bull driver has a 77-point lead over his nearest rivals, one of those being Button, who admitted it would be ‘bloody hard’ to close the gap when the RB7 is so dominant.
“It is going to be bloody hard from where I am, 77 points behind,” he told the Guardian. “That’s three race wins, with Seb[astian Vettel] not finishing, and he’s still got a two-point lead.”
The McLaren driver is counting on Red Bull making mistakes as they become complacent with winning, as well as his own outfit pushing to outdevelop the current pace-setters.
“It is not easy. But we’ve seen it before. Teams make mistakes and they might start thinking it’s easy in their position,” he said. “But it is going to be difficult. He has got such a lead. I don’t even have that lead over 14th place. It just shows you how big his margin is.
“At the moment I feel [Red Bull] are going to be quick all year. We have just got to improve our car. It is not about them not improving, we have to improve at a greater rate, which at the moment is very difficult.”
The 31-year-old also expressed his surprise at Mark Webber’s pace this season which hasn’t been a match for Vettel, apart from during Spanish qualifying in which the Australian claimed pole, the only one Vettel hasn’t secured in 2011.
“I think Seb’s a great driver. He has proved that this season,” added Button. “But I am surprised he is that much quicker than Mark [Webber], so there is obviously something that is not working for Mark.
“He hasn’t really been on the same pace as Sebastian this year, which surprises me as he is quick. He says he has got problems with the tyres. He is not getting to grips with them.”
