Button: 'No chance' in Canada without DRS

F1 News

Date: 18/06/2011

Jenson Button admitted that his last-gasp Canadian Grand Prix victory wouldn’t have been possible without the new DRS overtaking aid, introduced into F1 this season.

DRS, which stands for Drag Reduction System, allows drivers to increase their straight-line speed, at a predetermined part of the track, by lowering the amount of rear wing drag - providing they are within one-second of the driver ahead. 

It's been one of the main reasons for the dramatic increase in overtaking this year and, although Button's stunning Montreal victory came after a rare final-lap mistake from Sebastian Vettel, the Englishman had used DRS to heap pressure on the Red Bull driver in the closing stages. 

"I wouldn’t have had a chance if we didn’t have DRS here," said the McLaren driver. "If Sebastian didn’t make a mistake it would have been very tricky, but it was getting very close to making the move because of the DRS.

"The previous lap I got DRS and I wasn’t really close enough to make a move, but I felt I was creeping closer and it could have been one of those moves on the last lap into the last corner, but it didn’t go that far because Seb put a wheel onto the wet surface and ran wide."

DRS use is unrestricted in practice and qualifying and Button revealed that the McLaren rear wing has been optimised for race performance.

"I think that some other people have got a more efficient DRS system in qualifying spec, but in race spec I think our rear wing is more efficient because that’s the trade-off you have with the rear wings, with the DRS system," he said.

"Mechanically our car is also very good. We proved that in Monaco and we see that again here, especially when there’s low grip on the circuit."

Button's first win of the season has moved him to second in the world championship, but 60 points behind Vettel.