Q. How tough is the Singapore GP for the drivers?
Jenson Button: This is the grand prix we train for during the year. It’s almost too tough: you’re totally drained by the end of the race. If you look at pictures of the podium, you can tell that the drivers are not completely with it, due to the heat and dehydration. Anyone who says anything different is lying!
Q. Is the race tougher than the Malaysian Grand Prix, staged just 200 miles to the north?
JB: The Singapore Grand Prix is much tougher than the race in Malaysia. There are long straights at Sepang, along which you can take a breather, but that’s not the case in Singapore. The layout of the Marina Bay circuit is very unforgiving and it’s very, very bumpy. Even on the straights you have to work because of the bumps. At the end of the race the drivers sit in their cars for a few moments before getting out. You have to; if you get out too quickly you feel light-headed and dizzy.
Q. Singapore is the first of three consecutive races in the Far East. How do you deal with jet-lag?
JB: For the next month, I rent an apartment in Tokyo with my girlfriend Jessica. I pretty much live there when I’m not at the races in Singapore, Japan and Korea, and it’s a bit of a treat. I never spend as many days in one place during the year as I do in Japan during September and October.
Q. Are there any other advantages to basing yourself in Japan?
JB: The weather’s very humid in Singapore and it’s pretty humid in Japan and Korea, so you’re better off preparing for these races in Japan than you are in Europe. You also need to watch your hydration levels and sitting on long haul flights the whole time wouldn’t be the best preparation.
Q. How competitive do you expect the MP4-26 to be in Singapore?
JB: The car should be good. It’s been quick on different types of circuit and the downforce levels used this weekend are quite similar to the Hungaroring. We were quick in Monaco as well, but you can’t really compare Singapore to other street tracks on the calendar because it’s so much more bumpy. I’ve never finished on the podium in Singapore and it would be nice to achieve that next weekend.
Q. How do you view the championship situation, with Vettel 112 points clear at the top?
JB: Sebastian’s a long way ahead and it’s going to be very difficult for anyone to beat him now. He’s going to need a long period of bad luck for us to stand a chance of taking the title. My goal for the rest of the year is to win as many races as I can. That will at least give the team a good springboard into 2012.
