Button admits title race is over but vows to keep fighting
McLaren driver concedes Vettel has all but won the title, but insists his winning mentality remains intact
McLaren’s Jenson Button has vowed to keep fighting for victory at the season’s remaining Grands Prix, despite conceding the title race is over.
Button finished second behind defending world champion Sebastian Vettel at Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, leaving him trailing the German by 117 points with just 150 available.
“Yeah, there’s no chance,” he said when asked if the battle for this season’s title is over. “We’ve known that for a little while, but as drivers you want a bit of hope. It won’t change anything though.
“We’re still going to have amazing racing, like it has been in the last few races. Whatever we do, because we are racers, competitive, be it driving in F1, karting or triathlons, you want to win.
“That doesn’t suddenly change because there’s no championship to win. You still want to win every race. The emotion when you cross the line to win a grand prix is – it’s very different to winning a world championship.
“You build up to win a world championship, whereas a race is just there. Suddenly you’ve won and it’s such an amazing experience. So the racing is still going to be great, and that’s what we love.”
