LONDON (AP) — Jenson Button threatened to leave Honda unless the Formula One team can provide him with a more competitive car.
Button scored six points in this year’s F1 competition and teammate Rubens Barrichello didn’t earn any. Button is blaming the car.
"The car was a complete dog," Button was quoted as saying in The Mail on Sunday newspaper. "I’m just not interested in racing like this any more."
Button said he was jealous of the success of Lewis Hamilton, who finished second in the drivers’ championship in his first year in the sport, because his McLaren car was a better one.
"I did a bloody good job with what was given to me and I’m not afraid to say so," Button said. "I remain one of the best drivers but until I’m given a competitive car, it’s difficult to prove it."
Button won his first Grand Prix last year in Budapest, Hungary, after seven years of racing. He said his Honda car for this year’s championship was "just shocking and difficult to drive."
"Every time I drove it, I was in agony because it was so physically demanding," he said. "Then I’d grow angry with the situation. The blood pressure would build and that can’t help your driving."
Button said Honda had pinpointed the problem as an aerodynamics issue, but warned he could leave the team at the end of the year if the car wasn’t improved.
"I’m not saying I expect to win the world title, but I do expect a dramatic improvement. I can’t be bothered with working (hard) … and qualifying in 14th any more. It’s making me unhappy."
Testing on Honda’s 2008 car begins later this month in Spain.