Motorsport

Jenson Button has given a cautious ‘thumbs up’ to Honda’s new grand prix contender, but has demanded more consistency from his team.

The British ace suffered an up-and-down campaign last year, making a strong start with a podium in the second round and pole position in the third. He then suffered a series of poor results, but bounced back to take his maiden win in Hungary and outscored all his rivals in the final six races.

As Honda revealed its latest RA107 in Barcelona, Button warned: “If we can build on what we had towards the end of last year, I’ll be a very happy man. I want to be winning races, but we’ll only know just how competitive we are when we arrive in Melbourne for the season opener.

“For now we are just getting our heads down and working as hard as we can to hopefully make a winning car in the future.”
Button and team-mate Rubens Barrichello spent time driving the RA107 last week, with the car running in an all-black unbranded livery. No major sponsors are in the pipeline, but Honda is expected to unveil a new colour scheme soon.

Details remain secret, but the final livery will feature slogans reflecting the company’s environmentally friendly credentials. And despite facing a possible threat to his status as Britain’s number one driver, Button has welcomed Lewis Hamilton’s arrival on the grand prix grid with McLaren.

“It’s great for British motorsport,” said the 27-year-old. “I believe he’ll be quick and will want to be winning races. But he has a lot to learn.”

That was borne out by Hamilton’s huge 160mph shunt at Jerez in Spain last week, when he wrote off his McLaren. The rookie walked away unharmed, blaming windy conditions.