McLaren star admits he had to get 'Immodiumed up' before Singapore GP
Last Updated: September 26, 2011 4:45pm
Button: Fell ill before Singapore GP
Jenson Button deprived Sebastian Vettel the chance of winning a second Formula One world title in Singapore despite suffering illness on the morning of the grand prix.
The McLaren driver finished second to Vettel at the Marina Bay Street Circuit to move second in the standings behind the defending champion. Button is 124 points behind, with 125 available, and although he is now the only driver capable of stopping Vettel, he appreciates that is never going to happen.
But to even get into his McLaren, never mind extend his run of podiums to four, was a remarkable achievement given how unwell he felt on Sunday morning.
After the race - the longest on the F1 calendar - Button was also left sporting an ice bag on his left knee.
"I was ill yesterday morning. I don't know where it came from, but when you do have it you're massively dehydrated," Button said.
"I was a kilo and a half lighter than I normally am in the morning, and putting that weight back on was quite difficult.
"So I 'Immodiumed' up, ate a lot of pasta because carbohydrates help you soak up liquid and drank a lot of special drinks from Aki (McLaren team doctor Aki Hintsa), his salty water drinks.
"So I was good by the race, I managed to get my weight back up, and I got through it.
Proud
"I feel very proud I stopped Seb from winning the championship in Singapore, that he was unable to celebrate it here, so I'm very happy - but we all know it's going to happen at the next race."
With the championship battle effectively over, it now becomes a matter of motivation for all those involved.
For Button, he has his own private battle going on as he revealed: "I had a goal, from Hungary onwards over the second part of the season, to beat Seb in the points. It's going to be tricky.
"I'm the second highest points scorer so far, and that has to be the aim for the season - to score more points than the others - and hopefully score more points than Seb in the second half.
"But the main aim is to win races. We tried it yesterday, it didn't quite work, but at least I was the closest driver to doing that."
Credit: Sky Sports (www.skysports.com)
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