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MONTE CARLO, Monaco - Jenson Button shrugged off his own disappointment and congratulated friend and rival Mark Webber after a miserable 2012 Monaco F1 GP ended for him with an early exit on Sunday.
The 32-year-old Briton was forced to retire after damaging his McLaren in a collision, partly caused by his own frustration, with Finn Heikki Kovalainen's Caterham in the closing stages of the 78-lap race. He said: "If someone places their car well and has good exits - from corners -- it's very difficult. That's part of racing but it's so frustrating when you are so much faster than the car in front.
"It's just one of those things. It comes from a bad qualifying and being unlucky at the start. We were more prone to incidents. It was a tough afternoon but congratulations to Mark, he's a good lad and it obviously livens up the championship. I hope we'll have our day soon."
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Button's retirement brought a disappointing McLaren weekend to a miserable end. After the false dawn of being fastest in Thursday's opening free practice he fell away from the front-runnings' pace. He was unable to recover in qualifying and missed the cut to the top 10 shoot-out and then lost track position at the start, due to the first corner carnage.
As a result, he found himself stuck behind Kovalainen, but failed to pass him and, in the end, struck him in one failed move that spun him out of the race.
Since winning the season-opening race and finishing second in the third event in China, Button has struggled to to score points - he's managed only two from three races and has slipped to seventh in the Drivers' championship.
The 32-year-old Briton was forced to retire after damaging his McLaren in a collision, partly caused by his own frustration, with Finn Heikki Kovalainen's Caterham in the closing stages of the 78-lap race. He said: "If someone places their car well and has good exits - from corners -- it's very difficult. That's part of racing but it's so frustrating when you are so much faster than the car in front.
"It's just one of those things. It comes from a bad qualifying and being unlucky at the start. We were more prone to incidents. It was a tough afternoon but congratulations to Mark, he's a good lad and it obviously livens up the championship. I hope we'll have our day soon."
OUT OF TOP 10
Button's retirement brought a disappointing McLaren weekend to a miserable end. After the false dawn of being fastest in Thursday's opening free practice he fell away from the front-runnings' pace. He was unable to recover in qualifying and missed the cut to the top 10 shoot-out and then lost track position at the start, due to the first corner carnage.
As a result, he found himself stuck behind Kovalainen, but failed to pass him and, in the end, struck him in one failed move that spun him out of the race.
Since winning the season-opening race and finishing second in the third event in China, Button has struggled to to score points - he's managed only two from three races and has slipped to seventh in the Drivers' championship.