Whitmarsh: Button's form no surprise

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh says he always expected Jenson Button to produce the kind of superb form that has seen him leading the world championship just four races into his relationship with the Woking team.

Contrary to the widespread pre-season assumption that Button would be hard-pressed to get on terms with incumbent team-mate Lewis Hamilton at McLaren, the reigning champion has out-qualified his young stablemate at the last three grands prix, and his wins in Australia and China have given him a 10-point championship lead.

But Whitmarsh said he always thought Button's combination of speed, experience and determined would lead to spectacular results for McLaren.

"I don't think it's a surprise - I think Jenson has done a fantastic job with the team," said Whitmarsh.

"He's a mature world champion, he's got a lot of experience, he's had a lot of tough times in his career and he's clearly learnt from it.

"How he has conducted himself in the team, how he works with Lewis, how he operates out on the track is fantastic."

Although Button's wet weather skill played a part in both his McLaren wins so far, Whitmarsh dismissed any suggestion that the triumphs were lucky ones.

"Here we are four races in, and he's won two of them," said Whitmarsh.

"No one who's watched those races could say anything other than that he thoroughly deserved to win them.

"They were 'driver wins' - races where the driver had to make the difference, and he did make the difference."

He added that both Hamilton and Button deserved huge credit for McLaren's success so far this season, as the team has not yet been an outright pace-setter and is thought to trail the Red Bull slightly - especially in qualifying trim.

"To come away leading the championship after four races when not everything's gone right shows we've got two great racing drivers and a strong team," Whitmarsh said.

"It's testament to the team and the drivers.

"In China in qualifying I think we had the second fastest car, I think we were still slower than Red Bull but we underperformed in qualifying and didn't make it easy for ourselves.

"We don't always get it right, but we make decisions and we get on with it.

"We've got two drivers who are great racers and they've made a massive contribution."

Source: ITV.com